“I do not enjoy the suffering”, is a tenor often repeated by neuropsychiatrist Johann Friedrich Spittler. But where he goes, there is pain, there is suffering, there is desperation. But, and that is the question, is it enough to warrant suicide? In his newest documentary Green Light [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], which first premiered at Locarno Film Festival and was now screened in the Features section at the 63rd Viennale, Moldovan–Austrian–Romanian filmmaker Pavel Cuzuioc may not give a clear answer. But he is definitely offering a complex tableau of ethical grey zones, human determination and juridical fragility.

Cuzuoic has made a name for himself in observing human experiences and emotional depth with care, and Green Light is no different. It was 2020 when German courts declared that people have a right to end their lives, which paved the way for assisted suicide. For years now, Dr. Spittler has interviewed patients, somewhere between 600 and 700, to see if they qualify for such assistance. These interviews dive deep into the pain of the patient, all of whom seem confident enough to share their plight in front of a camera and be named in the credits. There seems to be no hope. “I am just existing” is a common denominator.

And yet, no matter whether one is in favour of assisted suicide or not, the challenges are easily detectable. There are those in pain from illnesses, accidents, and impairments. Some are deep into a depression where no therapy, no social bond can snap them out of it. Mental pain weighs no less than physical one. But there is the patient who wants the “green light” only as a back burner for the future. The woman who had anorexia. The woman who wants to join her dead child. An elderly man who, on the one hand, thinks little of the term “sacrificing time” in a job, but is ready to sacrifice his remaining lifetime in a heartbeat.

Sacrificing lifetime is a recurring theme that Dr. Spittler keeps pointing out. Nobody would shorten their stay in this world if they didn’t have a good reason. This is where Cuzuoic’s film gets really interesting. The doctor himself is not a friend of suicide. But it is his imperative to let people have free will and to do everything in his power to help. One of the later tragedies in this documentary is a court case in the city of Essen, in which Dr. Spittler is charged with having misdiagnosed a patient.

For avid readers of German news, they might already know what the final verdict will be. But the accusation of manslaughter once again points out how fragile and thin the line is, on which Dr. Spittler keeps moving. This renowned older man, whose every word is presented with so much weight and wisdom. Whose philosophical and intellectual gushes paper over the fact that the whole dramatic composition of the film is centred around conversations and interviews. This is a complex intersection of ethics, politics and sympathy. One, that one can only navigate, but never truly solve.

Green Light is produced by Austria’s Pavel Cuzuioc Filmproduktion and Romania’s Zenobia Film.