The Fox might at first seem to be one of the many (too many?) films that depict a special friendship between humans and animals. And when approaching such stories, the risk of creating something overly rhetorical is higher than ever. Adrian Goiginger, fortunately, has managed to avoid such mistakes, focusing mainly on the childhood traumas of the young protagonist. At the Diagonale’23.
Goldfish have very powerful eyesight and are able to see what humans often miss. Who is the mysterious killer? Das letzte Problem cleverly takes its cue from what has been made in the past while at the same time creating an enjoyable, adrenaline-fuelled detective story with a welcome retro touch.
Surreal, bizarre, but also tender and rather naïve, Drei Herren is certainly not a perfect feature film. And yet, as we get closer to the finale, each character turns out to be much more complex and multifaceted than it might initially seem.
by Xaver Schwarzenberger grade: 6.5 Xaver Schwarzenberger and his wife Ulrike – author of the screenplay – deliberately leave certain questions open and make a subtle ambiguity an essential element… Read more »
India is the story of a great friendship. Of a friendship which is so strong that it is able to overcome any adversity. Josef Hader and Alfred Dorfer, for their part, have accomplished an excellent script, perfectly combining comedy and tragedy, in a deep and never predictable reflection on life, death and the importance of interpersonal relationships.
Mother’s Day – Harald Sicheritz’s debut feature, which, alongside an often excessively fragmented plot, features an overall good characterisation of upper-class Austrian society – has become, over the years, a true cult within contemporary Austrian cinema.
Dinner for two – made for television by Xaver Schwarzenberger, the long-time cinematographer of the great Rainer Werner Fassbinder – aims above all to be a fresco of Viennese society – and, more generally, of the world in which we live – without taking itself too seriously. A long journey through Vienna where anything can happen.
Kai Wessel’s Fog in August presents a mise-en-scène with mainly monochrome cinematography, in which the lighting is always too low, too weak. A mise-en-scene that is also complemented by a script in which the bravest characters, the most justice-seeking characters never really manage to make their voices heard.
With a good touch of irony and just as a strong criticism of the National Health Service (and others), Wolfgang Murnberger’s Come Sweet Death sees its protagonist – played by comedian Josef Hader – as a sort of unintentional hero, an apparently bored man who does nothing but turn to alcohol and smoking to forget his loneliness. The director, on the other hand, does not hesitate to show us the worst of society without sparing us anything.
Lilly the Witch: The Dragon and the Magic Book – directed by Oscar-winner Stefan Ruzowitzky, as well as the film adaptation of the famous homonymous short story written by Knister – despite its linear development and its good and dynamic direction, is not as incisive as previous similar works.