With films like Det perfekte menneske and Det gode og det onde in mind the consistent black and white portrait film Jeg er levende gives the impression that Søren Ulrik Thomsen has been invited into Leth’s filmic universe, which conversely allows room for the poet’s words. Thomsen gives an account of brief memories of childhood in a deliberately “staged” fashion, but more particularly of his experience of writing and on the art of reading aloud, and likewise describing poetry in general as a balance between emotion and cognition. He also reads some of his work aloud. The readings take place in the empty white space of the film studio whereas the rest of the footage of Thomsen was shot in his flat, which the camera studies in a series of shots as a peculiar, private world. Particularly notable are the poet’s tea ritual, described in calm close-ups, accompanied by Randall Meyer’s music (recycled from Michael Laudrup - en fodboldspiller). A third layer is provided by Dan Holmberg’s atmospheric observations from Copenhagen (stills and 16 mm) accompanied by a recent recording of Krzysztof Komeda’s theme from Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968).