Character Relationship Map: Lifespan

Characters

• Dr. Ben Land (played by Hiram Keller) — protagonist

  An American doctor who travels to Amsterdam to meet Dr. Linden, an expert on aging believed to be near a breakthrough. After Linden is found hanged, Ben is left to interpret baffling clues. He becomes...

• Anna (played by Tina Aumont) — supporting

  Anna worked as a bondage model for Dr. Linden. She becomes intimate with Ben after Linden's death, and their relationship includes light shibari bondage. As Ben investigates the baffling clues, he dis...

• Nicholas Ulrich (played by Klaus Kinski) — supporting

  Nicholas Ulrich is identified as the mysterious Swiss man connected to the clues surrounding Dr. Linden's death. Ben learns that Anna knows more than she should about him, making Ulrich an important p...

• Prof. van Arp (played by Fons Rademakers) — supporting

  A professor at the University of Amsterdam who offers academic wit when Dr. Linden is absent from the conference Ben attends. His response contrasts with Ben's expectation of meeting Linden and leaves...

• Pim Henke (played by Frans Mulder) — supporting

  Pim Henke joins Ben in examining Dr. Linden's laboratory mice, which appear unusually young and healthy. Their discovery helps focus Ben's investigation on whether the animals received an antioxidant...

• Dr. Linden (played by Eric Schneider) — supporting

  An aging researcher whom Ben travels to Amsterdam to meet, Dr. Linden behaves strangely at a conference and later dies by suicide. His missing papers, laboratory mice that appear unusually young and h...

• Felix Dolda (played by André van den Heuvel) — supporting

  Felix Dolda is mentioned by Nicholas Ulrich during his confrontation with Ben. Ulrich says he will have Felix return Dr. Linden's files, which may contain a copy of their contract. The available accou...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Nicholas Ulrich → Felix Dolda (Power Assigned File Retrieval) — Ulrich presents Felix as the person he will send to retrieve or return the files; the account does not describe the outcome.

  Ulrich says he will have Felix Dolda return the files, which he claims contain a copy of their contract.

• Nicholas Ulrich → Dr. Linden (Professional Research Patron) — Ulrich claims to have financed and directed Linden's continuation of research into life-prolonging treatment.

  Ulrich says he obtained papers from a Russian scientist and hired Dr. Linden to continue the work.

• Dr. Ben Land → Prof. van Arp (Professional Academic Acquaintances) — Van Arp is an academic contact Land encounters during his search for Linden.

  At a conference, Prof. van Arp offers academic wit in place of the absent Dr. Linden while Land is there expecting to meet Linden.

• Anna → Dr. Linden (Professional Former Model And Researcher) — Anna's past connection to Linden gives her knowledge of him, though she resists discussing him with Land.

  Anna's profile says she worked as a bondage model for Dr. Linden. The plot account says she knew the dead scientist.

• Dr. Ben Land → Anna (Romantic Intimate Partners) — Their intimacy develops alongside Land's suspicion that Anna is withholding information about Linden and Ulrich.

  The character profile says Anna becomes intimate with Ben after Linden's death. The plot account also says she resists discussing Linden while Land su...

• Dr. Ben Land → Dr. Linden (Professional Investigating Colleague) — Land's professional interest in Linden's aging research becomes an investigation into the circumstances and work surrounding his death.

  Land arrives in Amsterdam expecting to meet his colleague Dr. Linden. After Linden's death, Land investigates his research and the missing papers.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Nicholas Ulrich → Anna (Unknown Mysterious Connection) — Anna's knowledge of Ulrich and the roses connected to a wealthy Swiss associate make her relationship to him a source of suspicion, though its exact nature is not established.

  Anna receives roses from a wealthy Swiss associate, and Land suspects someone is following his inquiries. Her profile says Land later discovers that s...

• Dr. Ben Land → Nicholas Ulrich (Conflict Adversaries) — Their disagreement over unsafe human testing escalates into a direct threat against Land.

  Ulrich wants Land to accelerate the research and press for human testing. Land refuses until the treatment is safe, and Ulrich threatens him.

• Dr. Ben Land → Pim Henke (Alliance Research Collaborators) — They work together to examine the mice, a clue that draws Land further into Linden's research.

  Land and Pim Henke discover that Linden's laboratory mice appear unusually young and healthy.

Story Analysis

An aging researcher follows clues left by a dead scientist and confronts a wealthy sponsor demanding unsafe human testing.

Plot Progression

1. An Unanswered Meeting — Land arrives in Amsterdam to pursue aging research and meet Dr. Linden. Linden's strange behavior and subsequent suicide leave Land searching for explanations.
2. Clues in the Laboratory — Land questions Anna and investigates Linden's missing papers. With Pim, he finds unusually healthy mice and arranges to keep them while considering a possible anti-aging treatment.
3. The Residents' Tests — Land learns that Linden worked with residents of an old age home using tests that seemed like games. Accounts, historical images, and Anna's recollections heighten concern that vulnerable people may h...
4. Ulrich's Demand — Land meets Ulrich, who admits he wants a life-prolonging treatment and says he hired Linden to continue research based on papers he obtained. Ulrich presses Land to accelerate the work and pursue huma...
5. An Unresolved Threat — Land refuses to proceed with human testing until the treatment is safe. Ulrich threatens him and refers to files and a contract copy, but the available account ends before the files are examined or th...