''The Absence'' (; ) is a 1992 French-German-Spanish drama film directed by

Peter Handke Peter Handke (; born 6 December 1942) is an Austrian novelist, playwright, translator, poet, film director, and screenwriter. He was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature "for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored t ...

. It follows the journey of four nameless people: the old man, the woman, the soldier, and the gambler. The film is based on Handke's novella with the same name. It premiered in competition at the 49th Venice International Film Festival.

Cast

Bruno Ganz Bruno Ganz (; 22 March 1941 – 16 February 2019) was a Swiss actor whose career in German stage, television and film productions spanned nearly 60 years. He was known for his collaborations with the directors Werner Herzog, Éric Rohmer, Franc ...

as the gambler * Jeanne Moreau as the writer's wife * Alex Descas as the soldier * Eustaquio Barjau as the writer * Sophie Semin as the young woman * Arielle Dombasle

Release

The film premiered on 6 September 1992 in competition at the 49th Venice International Film Festival. It was released in France on 20 January 1993 and Germany on 24 February 1994.

Reception

Thomas Quinn Curtiss wrote in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'': "The movie, being shown at the film festival here, follows four people - an old man, a young woman, a soldier and a player - as they walk about an imaginary topography across continents, hoping to escape from their everyday existence. ... They pontificate and recite monologues, but as they arrive at no conclusions the spectator may wonder whether their journey was really necessary."

References

External links

* 1992 films Films based on works by Peter Handke Films directed by Peter Handke French drama films 1990s French-language films German drama films 1990s German-language films Films with screenplays by Peter Handke Spanish drama films 1990s Spanish-language films 1992 drama films 1992 multilingual films French multilingual films German multilingual films Spanish multilingual films Spanish-language French films 1990s French films 1990s German films French-language Spanish films {{1990s-drama-film-stub