Life stories in stone
Documentary filmmaker Katinka Zeuner accompanied stonemason Michael Spengler as he worked on three gravestones for the feature film “Der Stein zum Leben”. Together with the bereaved, he translates life stories into stone and thus carries out mourning work.
“For the design of a gravestone, it can be important how the person thought about transcendence. Whether life is over for them through death, or whether there is something that cannot be destroyed by death,” says stonemason Michael Spengler, blue and white striped linen shirt, faded peaked cap and small ring in his left ear, near the beginning of the film. The scene shows him during the first conversation with the bereaved, in the circus wagon at his workplace. In the course of this, the film also deals with other facets – such as the history of how various stones were created and what they can stand for.
Spengler says he is a translator – the film “Der Stein zum Leben” shows this translation work: how he discusses life stories with the mourners for three gravestones, selects the essences and finally sets them in stone. For example, with the Neustadt family: parents Anne and Uli with daughter Klara, who have lost their two-year-old son. Together with stonemason Spengler, they approach a gravestone that gives expression to their feelings. Spengler gives this process a lot of time – the documentary filmmaker shows this in long, slow shots and many moments in which the protagonists first pause and reflect.
The Neustadt family finally decides that the tomb should reflect their son’s rushing breath in a fragile limestone. The stonemason also involves the family in the production phase: they consider how deep the funnel should be in order to depict the breath. How many tool marks should remain to make it tangible that this breathing was very strenuous. And what the symbols for the date of birth and death could look like, which the daughter then designs. Together they erect the tomb at the end.
The idea behind the movie
Zeuner came up with the idea for the film, which accompanies two other gravestones and their creation, when her own mother died. Her death suddenly bursts into her life. Zeuner designs a tomb together with Spengler. She has the feeling that she can design her own farewell thanks to his approach. So she asks him if she can make a film about him and his “Denkwerke”. When asked how she managed to capture the scenes so closely, she says: “There were only ever two of us on set to disturb the situation as little as possible. We didn’t intervene in the meetings with the relatives. They were fragile situations and it was important not to be intrusive. The people were engrossed in their process.”
Katinka Zeuner has succeeded in making a documentary that tells of the creation of a gravestone as a comforting mourning process. But also, and this is a great service to the stonemasons’ guild, tells of the craft itself in wonderful close-ups. This also works so well because Spengler is a strong character, with an unusual workshop location and a lot of attention to detail, craftsmanship and empathy.
The movie
The stone to life
Documentary film, 2018
79 minutes
Cinema release nationwide: May 23, 2019
www.dersteinzumleben-film.de
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/287034503
The stonemason
Michael Spengler
Stonemason, sculptor and restorer
www.denkwerk-berlin.de/
This cinema review for the stone industry is a foretaste of the current coverage in the Panorama section of the June issue of STEIN.