While other filmmakers tend to choose highly personal themes somewhat prematurely – often right at the start of their careers – seasoned nonconformist and true intellectual Thomas Heise knows full well that a complex yarn is more easily untwined with acquired experience. Recounted against a backdrop of major 20th century events, he immerses himself in four generations of his family’s history, employing a serenity that the nourishing three-and-a-half-hour footage demands. He thus never overlooks beguiling details and is able to take wistful detours. Nor does he feel the need to hurry when the most eloquent form of expression is contemplative silence. The cinephilic hit of this year’s Berlinale asks out loud for a peckish audience that won’t be put off by narratives scored with all manner of grooves and crevices.