The Absence (French: L'Absence; German: Die Abwesenheit) is a 1992 French-German-Spanish drama film directed by Peter Handke.
It follows the journey of four nameless people: the old man, the woman, the soldier, and the gambler.
It premiered in competition at the 49th Venice International Film Festival.
[1][2] Thomas Quinn Curtiss wrote in The New York Times: "The movie, being shown at the film festival here, follows four people - an old man, a young woman, a soldier and a player - as they walk about an imaginary topography across continents, hoping to escape from their everyday existence.
They pontificate and recite monologues, but as they arrive at no conclusions the spectator may wonder whether their journey was really necessary.