In 1986, Peter Handke published a small poem titled To Duration. The theme, duration, is both very ancient and extremely contemporary, because of the struggling difficulty of today’s perpetually accelerating society to grasp the meaning of life.
Handke recounts, also through biographical recollections, his search for the “moments” and “elements” in one’s existence through which, he says, “life has taken on the meaning of an arrow thrown into eternity“.
Many intense moments, during our encounter, bring forth reflections on the complexity of time, as when Handke expresses this simple thought: “The path to Duration is loyalty, loyalty to form, which is aesthetics. We always belittle aesthetics, though aesthetics is but the application of ethics.”
Life is the adventure of existence, nature that with its imperceptible and eternal signs that, together with everyday places and the simple objects of everyday life, characterizes the rhythm and the sentiment of life. And for Peter Handke the writer, it is also the many small pencils scattered here and there in the house and in the garden.
To accompany Handke’s life stories, actor Bruno Ganz, a symbol in Handke’s screenwriting and directing, reads the poems written by his friend.
Directed by Didi Gnocchi
Featuring Bruno Ganz
Produced by 3D Produzioni; Sky Arte HD; Nexo Studios
Year: 2019
Runtime: 40′