Struggle

Four girls in a settlement on the outskirts of Vienna. An afternoon is long. Especially for Manuela.

The film is set in the near future, in a world of perfect capitalism. Society is sustained by a class of top achievers; meanwhile, so-called minimum recipients live under sedation in Fortresses of Sleep. The great majority of top achievers view themselves as happy. An outsourced agency has been established for the rest: Life Guidance is charged with turning these individuals into optimal people as well. Alexander has internalized the system but one wrong word to his child triggers Life Guidance. He starts to rebel and encounters the horror of the system in all its brightness and affability.

This film is a portrait of life, a portrait of people with varying life plans. It asks the meaning of life, about how to fill the gap between birth and death, and what is happiness. Short documentary pieces tell the stories of some very different protagonists of a generation: from the forest-owning family in their stately home to the factory worker following her daily routine.

An all-girl Catholic boarding school near Vienna for the wealthy Austrian elite and their children. The school is thriving, but faith is declining and the upper floors are de­ser­ted. The head of the institution, a young energetic nun, fights with ardor against this decline. Martha, 12, one of the nun’s favorite pupils, is a devoted girl who wishes to expiate the sins of the world. Encouraged by the nun, she is given a penance belt and taken to the abandoned upper floor.