52 Films by Women Vol 5. 44. A FISH SWIMMING UPSIDE DOWN (Ein Fisch der auf dem Rücken schwimmt) (Director: Eliza Petkova)
What drives a woman to sleep with both a man and his adult son in the same house? In her second feature film, Ein fisch der auf dem R ücken schwimmt ( A Fish Swimming Upside Down ), Bulgarian-born, German-based writer-director Eliza Petkova doesn’t answer this question directly. However, she drops a heavy hint. At dinner, some way into the drama, crop-haired Andrea (Nina Schwabe) is asked about her past, having just heard a story how Martin (Theo Trebs) had cut the roses from the family rose bush to present to his teacher. Andrea deflects the question: ‘I can’t remember anything. I have no past.’ To me, this means one thing: trauma. Andrea was subject to abuse early in her life from the adults around her. She negotiated it by accommodation, understanding that those who made demands of her required unconditional tenderness. She never recognised that she should say ‘no’; that no person can be all things to everyone. Her response to being touched is to surrender herself. It is a ...