The screenplay by Jean-Paul Sartre, first published in Germany in 1952, tells the story of the revolutionary Pierre and the high society lady Eve. Both meet their deaths through violence. They encounter each other in the world of shadows, cautiously approach each other and fall in love. Death realizes that a mistake has occurred with the two. For Eve and Pierre are actually meant for each other. They are given a second chance, a so-called "reclamation", but only on the condition that they manage to love each other uncompromisingly within 24 hours. However, the past does not let go of either of them, and they fail in the snares of their old lives.
The screenplay shows a somewhat different view of life after death. Beyond the end of life, people are pursued by bureaucracy. They have to obediently queue up to confirm their death with their signature. The dead do not enter their own world. They become shadow figures who wander around the world as observers, without the living being able to notice them.
For me, the big question of the book is: what if? Would we really use our second chance? Sartre's protagonists, at any rate, fail due to the unfreedom of their past. They do not live their second life as self-determinedly as they should, make the same old mistakes and let their chance pass unused. They cannot really change their fate, and I doubt that we humans could really significantly change our fate in a second life.
The screenplay is only a short 138 pages long and easy to read. One quickly reaches the last page, but this does not stop the tension. The tragic love story prompts reflection and is easily understandable. One does not often find philosophical texts that are so clear to understand.
A beautiful, melancholy story that is highly recommended!
“Work is over, and a person cannot repeat a game that is finished.”
These lines come to us as a clear answer to the question, “What if after death, one finds their soulmate, is together with them, and is given the right to come back to life with the record of having made love within 24 hours?” Worldly affairs are always on our doorstep, and everything we feel responsible for is always our priority. Just being dead is not enough to escape these external factors because being a human requires this. Our social structure does not only allow us to offer ourselves to love and lead a two-person life. The author claims that the values that make us who we are are indispensable to us, and that it is impossible to play a game that is over again. And rightfully so...
Imagine a scenario where one is on the brink of dying. Their life flashes before their eyes, and then, miraculously, they are given a second chance. This second chance comes in the form of being reunited with their so-called soulmate. They embark on a new journey together, filled with love, hope, and countless beautiful memories. However, just as they think they have found true happiness, fate plays a cruel trick on them. They find themselves facing death once again. The pain and heartbreak are almost unbearable. How could this happen? They had just started to build a life together, and now it is all being taken away. Big L, this situation is truly a tragedy that makes one question the fairness of life.