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by Norbert Pfaffenbichler
grade: 8
Will there ever be hope of salvation for those living on the margins of society? Norbert Pfaffenbichler seems to have a clear idea about this. But perhaps only love can save us all. And in 2551.01 it does so in a never banal or predictable way, skilfully avoiding any possible rhetoric. Inspired by Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid and presented at Diagonale 2021.
Masks
A tramp finds an abandoned baby by chance. Initially hesitant, he later decides to keep the child with him. The beginning of this timeless tale is known to all. It is The Kid, directed by the great Charlie Chaplin in 1921, which has inspired numerous filmmakers over the years. One of these is Norbert Pfaffenbichler, who with his feature film 2551.01 – premiered at the Diagonale 2021, as part of the section Innovatives Kino – is an adaptation of Chaplin’s film set in a dystopian underworld, in which those living on the margins of society are considered ‘freaks’ and constantly wear masks.
This is also the case for the protagonist of 2551.01. The man, during a clash with the police, meets a child by chance and decides to take him along. The two will thus begin a difficult journey through the underground world of the city.
Inspired not only by Chaplin’s masterpiece, but also by the cinema of Tod Browning and slapstick comedies, Norbert Pfaffenbichler opted for a dialogue-free mise-en-scène, in which psychedelic lighting, sophisticated fades, intense close-ups of masked and bloodied faces, as well as cramped and dirty environments, prisons, long corridors and psychiatric hospitals, whose alienating effect is further emphasised by aerial shots and wide-angle shots, play the leading role.
Those who live on the margins of society are considered by all to be ‘bad’, while ‘good’ people are always dressed in white, even though in 2551.01 we are not even allowed to see their faces. Yet Norbert Pfaffenbichler knows exactly for whom he sympathises. And this is demonstrated by the relationship that develops between the protagonist and the child: a pure, sincere, affectionate relationship. It is about two lonely people who meet, who get to know each other, who ‘recognise’ each other. And together, they can finally face the world. But what pitfalls will fate have in store for them?
Norbert Pfaffenbichler has achieved a real crescendo of emotions in this important film of his, relegating the epilogue of the story to an episode that will be shown to us at a later date. And, in fact, we cannot wait to find out what other twists and turns the adventures of the two protagonists will take. It is a tender but also deeply painful story, made even more precious by a clever mise-en-scene and images studied down to the smallest detail by the director together with cameraman Martin Putz, in which disturbing children’s games, human body parts being served as dishes and torture of all kinds take the essence of the world in which the two protagonists live to the extreme. Will there ever be hope of salvation for those living on the margins of society? Norbert Pfaffenbichler seems to have clear ideas about this. But perhaps only love can save us all. And in 2551.01 it does so in a never banal or predictable way, skilfully avoiding any possible rhetoric.
Original title: 2551.01
Directed by: Norbert Pfaffenbichler
Country/year: Austria / 2020
Running time: 65’
Genre: experimental
Cast: Stefan Erber, David Ionescu
Screenplay: Norbert Pfaffenbichler
Cinematography: Martin Putz
Produced by: Norbert Pfaffenbichler