Mondscheinkinder

Mondscheinkinder is a very touching movie. It is considered to be a children's movie, but you definitely should not allow your child/children to watch it alone, but accompany them and talk with them about it.

The story goes straight to your heart. Paul, a little boy, suffers from a sun allergy. He immediately gets melanoma when exposed to UV radiation. His elder sister Lisa explains to him that he is an astronaut from another planet and thus cannot cope with the atmosphere on Earth.

Even though Lisa is often made fun of by her classmates, she loves her brother and tries to make life bearable for him. Then she falls in love with a boy from her school, Simon. Simon is at first jealous of Paul and vice versa. When Lisa tells Simon, however, what is wrong with Paul, he joins her in her stories about Paul being in astronaut. After all, Simon himself wants to be an astronaut! I found it extremely sad to see how the two of them try to make Paul happy.

Mondscheinkinder is definitely a film worth seeing. There are hardly any films about cancer and dying and how to cope with this situation. I can think of another German movie with a similar topic, Grüne Wüste. We all do not want to think about illness and death, yet they are part of our lives. Mondscheinkinder, however, is not depressing at all, it is rather entertaining and even full of hope. Go and watch it, think about your own life, and don't forget a huge handkerchief.