Ivo (Minna Wündrich) spends her days tending to terminally ill patients. In her capacity as a palliative care nurse, she’s not responsible for saving them — that’s the doctors’ concern — though this 40-ish single mother does her best to listen to their complaints and ease their pain. It can be a draining experience, both physically and emotionally, and Ivo sometimes bends the rules in ways that make her at once more relatable and less saintly than her job might suggest.
With “Ivo,” writer-director Eva Trobisch doesn’t dwell on the morality of her title character’s choices, focusing more on the tension between this woman’s optimism and the weight of her work. Trobisch’s tough, observational drama builds on the promise of her 2018 debut, “All Is Good,” about a young woman determined not to let a sexual assault derail her life. Here, the German filmmaker delivers another stripped-down,...
With “Ivo,” writer-director Eva Trobisch doesn’t dwell on the morality of her title character’s choices, focusing more on the tension between this woman’s optimism and the weight of her work. Trobisch’s tough, observational drama builds on the promise of her 2018 debut, “All Is Good,” about a young woman determined not to let a sexual assault derail her life. Here, the German filmmaker delivers another stripped-down,...
- 2/28/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Paris-based Loco Films has taken on international sales for Eva Trobisch’s Ivo ahead of the film’s world premiere in Berlin’s Encounters section.
The German filmmaker’s second feature is a drama about tough end-of-life decisions told through the story of a palliative home-care nurse. It follows the titular Ivo who spends her time caring for many different kinds of patients and families as they face the end of their lives.
The German-language film is produced by Studio Zentral/Network Movie’s Lucas Schmidt, Wolfgang Cimera and Lasse Scharpen and co-produced by Trima Films.
It stars Minna Wündrich,...
The German filmmaker’s second feature is a drama about tough end-of-life decisions told through the story of a palliative home-care nurse. It follows the titular Ivo who spends her time caring for many different kinds of patients and families as they face the end of their lives.
The German-language film is produced by Studio Zentral/Network Movie’s Lucas Schmidt, Wolfgang Cimera and Lasse Scharpen and co-produced by Trima Films.
It stars Minna Wündrich,...
- 2/7/2024
- ScreenDaily
The Halloween season is almost here, which means a hectic Fall release schedule filled with horror looms just around the corner. Some of the year’s biggest horror releases are still ahead, including The Nun II, Saw X, The Exorcist: Believer, and Five Nights at Freddy’s.
Of course, they join countless movies already released these past eight months. As always, many titles might’ve slipped through the cracks, despite being available to stream now.
Whether you’re looking to get ahead on curating Halloween watchlists or catching up on 2023 horror before the year is through, here are twenty 2023 releases you can stream right now.
65 – Netflix
A high concept sci-fi effort from Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the writers behind A Quiet Place and writers/directors of Haunt. Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt star as the unlucky pair that find themselves on a hostile planet filled with creatures and obstacles. Driver...
Of course, they join countless movies already released these past eight months. As always, many titles might’ve slipped through the cracks, despite being available to stream now.
Whether you’re looking to get ahead on curating Halloween watchlists or catching up on 2023 horror before the year is through, here are twenty 2023 releases you can stream right now.
65 – Netflix
A high concept sci-fi effort from Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the writers behind A Quiet Place and writers/directors of Haunt. Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt star as the unlucky pair that find themselves on a hostile planet filled with creatures and obstacles. Driver...
- 8/16/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Happy May Day, the traditional halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. It celebrates new life, specifically harvests and the oncoming warm summer months. May Day festivities include Maypole dancing, bonfires, and gathering wildflowers. All things that become so much more sinister in horror – just ask Ari Aster about that one.
We’re celebrating May Day with five folk horror movies you can stream now, from foundational classics to modern frights. Here’s where to watch them this week.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
Apostle – Netflix
Writer/Director Gareth Evans brings every bit of the bone-crunching brutality of The Raid and The Raid 2 to his period folk horror film. The Guest’s Dan Stevens stars as Thomas, a man who travels to a remote island in 1905 to infiltrate the cult that’s kidnapped his sister for ransom. The cult leaders claim that...
We’re celebrating May Day with five folk horror movies you can stream now, from foundational classics to modern frights. Here’s where to watch them this week.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
Apostle – Netflix
Writer/Director Gareth Evans brings every bit of the bone-crunching brutality of The Raid and The Raid 2 to his period folk horror film. The Guest’s Dan Stevens stars as Thomas, a man who travels to a remote island in 1905 to infiltrate the cult that’s kidnapped his sister for ransom. The cult leaders claim that...
- 5/1/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Screambox has prepared an Easter feast.
The buzzed-about psychological horror film Family Dinner, which first premiered at Tribeca earlier this year, is now streaming on the Bloody Disgusting-powered Screambox!
The buzz surrounding this Austrian horror film has increased steadily, with its recent inclusion in the Next Wave Competition at Fantastic Fest and screenings at Beyond Fest and Sitges.
In Family Dinner, a teenager spends the holidays at her aunt’s farm in the hope of getting help to lose weight, but soon after her arrival, she begins to suspect that something is very wrong at this place.
Family Dinner was written and directed by Peter Hengl.
“Easter brings the slow simmer to a roaring boil. Fraught psychological dread explodes in violent horror,” wrote Meagan Navarro out of the Tribeca World Premiere.
“Family Dinner is like watching from afar as Alice begins a slow disturbing descent down the rabbit hole. The...
The buzzed-about psychological horror film Family Dinner, which first premiered at Tribeca earlier this year, is now streaming on the Bloody Disgusting-powered Screambox!
The buzz surrounding this Austrian horror film has increased steadily, with its recent inclusion in the Next Wave Competition at Fantastic Fest and screenings at Beyond Fest and Sitges.
In Family Dinner, a teenager spends the holidays at her aunt’s farm in the hope of getting help to lose weight, but soon after her arrival, she begins to suspect that something is very wrong at this place.
Family Dinner was written and directed by Peter Hengl.
“Easter brings the slow simmer to a roaring boil. Fraught psychological dread explodes in violent horror,” wrote Meagan Navarro out of the Tribeca World Premiere.
“Family Dinner is like watching from afar as Alice begins a slow disturbing descent down the rabbit hole. The...
- 4/7/2023
- by Brad Miska
- bloody-disgusting.com
Screambox is preparing an Easter feast.
The buzzed-about psychological horror film Family Dinner, which first premiered at Tribeca earlier this year, is streaming tomorrow on the Bloody Disgusting-powered Screambox.
The buzz surrounding this Austrian horror film has increased steadily, with its recent inclusion in the Next Wave Competition at Fantastic Fest and upcoming screenings at Beyond Fest and Sitges.
In Family Dinner, a teenager spends the holidays at her aunt’s farm in the hope of getting help to lose weight, but soon after her arrival, she begins to suspect that something is very wrong at this place.
Family Dinner was written and directed by Peter Hengl.
“Easter brings the slow simmer to a roaring boil. Fraught psychological dread explodes in violent horror,” wrote Meagan Navarro out of the Tribeca World Premiere.
“Family Dinner is like watching from afar as Alice begins a slow disturbing descent down the rabbit hole.
The buzzed-about psychological horror film Family Dinner, which first premiered at Tribeca earlier this year, is streaming tomorrow on the Bloody Disgusting-powered Screambox.
The buzz surrounding this Austrian horror film has increased steadily, with its recent inclusion in the Next Wave Competition at Fantastic Fest and upcoming screenings at Beyond Fest and Sitges.
In Family Dinner, a teenager spends the holidays at her aunt’s farm in the hope of getting help to lose weight, but soon after her arrival, she begins to suspect that something is very wrong at this place.
Family Dinner was written and directed by Peter Hengl.
“Easter brings the slow simmer to a roaring boil. Fraught psychological dread explodes in violent horror,” wrote Meagan Navarro out of the Tribeca World Premiere.
“Family Dinner is like watching from afar as Alice begins a slow disturbing descent down the rabbit hole.
- 4/6/2023
- by Brad Miska
- bloody-disgusting.com
Writer/Director Peter Hengl’s feature debut, Family Dinner, mines the discomfort and cringe of awkward family dynamics at the dinner table to deliver memorable holiday horror. In this instance, the holiday is Easter, a rarity in the genre space.
Just in time for Easter, Screambox Exclusive Family Dinner will be served on April 7. The Austrian horror film follows an overweight teen to her aunt’s farm before the Easter holiday, hoping to lose weight, only to discover something deeply wrong.
Ahead of the release, Bloody Disgusting spoke with Hengl about Family Dinner. The filmmaker discussed its origins, the importance of food and food styling for his feature debut, and finding inspiration from his love of folk horror.
“I remember childhood nightmares that I can’t mention because they would be massive spoilers to the end of the film,” Hengl teases about the personal origins behind Family Dinner. “I remember those nightmares,...
Just in time for Easter, Screambox Exclusive Family Dinner will be served on April 7. The Austrian horror film follows an overweight teen to her aunt’s farm before the Easter holiday, hoping to lose weight, only to discover something deeply wrong.
Ahead of the release, Bloody Disgusting spoke with Hengl about Family Dinner. The filmmaker discussed its origins, the importance of food and food styling for his feature debut, and finding inspiration from his love of folk horror.
“I remember childhood nightmares that I can’t mention because they would be massive spoilers to the end of the film,” Hengl teases about the personal origins behind Family Dinner. “I remember those nightmares,...
- 4/6/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Family Dinner streams exclusively on Screambox on April 7th, and we have an exclusive clip just for Daily Dead readers! The Austrian psychological shocker will also be available on Digital platforms the same day via Cinedigm.
Synopsis: "An overweight teenager spends Easter at her aunt's farm in the hope of getting help to lose weight, but soon after her arrival, she begins to suspect that something is very wrong at this place."
Written and directed by Peter Hengl, the film stars Pia Hierzegger, Michael Pink, Nina Katlein, and Alexander Sladek.
Exclusive Clip:
Official Trailer:
The post Watch an Exclusive Clip from Family Dinner appeared first on Daily Dead.
Synopsis: "An overweight teenager spends Easter at her aunt's farm in the hope of getting help to lose weight, but soon after her arrival, she begins to suspect that something is very wrong at this place."
Written and directed by Peter Hengl, the film stars Pia Hierzegger, Michael Pink, Nina Katlein, and Alexander Sladek.
Exclusive Clip:
Official Trailer:
The post Watch an Exclusive Clip from Family Dinner appeared first on Daily Dead.
- 4/5/2023
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Another holiday week is upon us here in 2023, with this first full week of April culminating with Easter Sunday. And fittingly, a brand new Easter horror movie is on the way this week…
Here’s all the new horror releasing April 4 – April 9, 2023!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
Living With Chucky, a Child’s Play documentary that celebrates the entire franchise, is our latest Screambox release, and it’s now available for streaming beginning today!
Written and directed by Kyra Elise Gardner, daughter of legendary special effects artist Tony Gardner, Living With Chucky looks back at the groundbreaking horror franchise. The documentary details the history of the Child’s Play films by the cast and crew, in addition to Gardner’s relationship with the series and the impact it had on her family.
Gardner, who grew up alongside Chucky the killer doll, seeks out the other...
Here’s all the new horror releasing April 4 – April 9, 2023!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
Living With Chucky, a Child’s Play documentary that celebrates the entire franchise, is our latest Screambox release, and it’s now available for streaming beginning today!
Written and directed by Kyra Elise Gardner, daughter of legendary special effects artist Tony Gardner, Living With Chucky looks back at the groundbreaking horror franchise. The documentary details the history of the Child’s Play films by the cast and crew, in addition to Gardner’s relationship with the series and the impact it had on her family.
Gardner, who grew up alongside Chucky the killer doll, seeks out the other...
- 4/4/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Because we love theming everything around horror and Easter arrives this weekend, this week’s streaming picks belong to horror movies perfect for your holiday viewing.
These five titles center around Easter yet explore the holiday in vastly different ways, from discomforting folk horror to raucous horror comedies – and of course, creepy bunnies.
Here’s where to watch these five Easter horror movies on streaming.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
Critters 2 – Hoopla, Tubi
If there’s a quintessential Easter horror movie to watch this week, it’s Critters 2. Plucky hero Brad (Scott Grimes) returns to the small town of Grover’s Bend to visit Grandma just in time for the town’s Easter celebration. Too bad someone mixed up Crite eggs for regular Easter eggs. The pint-sized critters set their sights on the Easter bunny before letting loose their insatiable appetite on the town. Think...
These five titles center around Easter yet explore the holiday in vastly different ways, from discomforting folk horror to raucous horror comedies – and of course, creepy bunnies.
Here’s where to watch these five Easter horror movies on streaming.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
Critters 2 – Hoopla, Tubi
If there’s a quintessential Easter horror movie to watch this week, it’s Critters 2. Plucky hero Brad (Scott Grimes) returns to the small town of Grover’s Bend to visit Grandma just in time for the town’s Easter celebration. Too bad someone mixed up Crite eggs for regular Easter eggs. The pint-sized critters set their sights on the Easter bunny before letting loose their insatiable appetite on the town. Think...
- 4/3/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Screambox is preparing a feast for next Easter.
Cinedigm, Bloody Disgusting, and Screambox have acquired all North American rights to the buzzed-about psychological horror film Family Dinner, which first premiered at Tribeca earlier this year.
Deadline first reported the news.
The buzz surrounding this Austrian horror film has increased steadily, with its recent inclusion in the Next Wave Competition at Fantastic Fest and upcoming screenings at Beyond Fest and Sitges.
In Family Dinner, a teenager spends the holidays at her aunt’s farm in the hope of getting help to lose weight, but soon after her arrival, she begins to suspect that something is very wrong at this place.
Written and directed by Peter Hengl, Cinedigm plans to release early next year, streaming exclusively on the widely regarded horror platform Screambox, which is powered by Bloody Disgusting.
“Easter brings the slow simmer to a roaring boil. Fraught psychological dread explodes in violent horror,...
Cinedigm, Bloody Disgusting, and Screambox have acquired all North American rights to the buzzed-about psychological horror film Family Dinner, which first premiered at Tribeca earlier this year.
Deadline first reported the news.
The buzz surrounding this Austrian horror film has increased steadily, with its recent inclusion in the Next Wave Competition at Fantastic Fest and upcoming screenings at Beyond Fest and Sitges.
In Family Dinner, a teenager spends the holidays at her aunt’s farm in the hope of getting help to lose weight, but soon after her arrival, she begins to suspect that something is very wrong at this place.
Written and directed by Peter Hengl, Cinedigm plans to release early next year, streaming exclusively on the widely regarded horror platform Screambox, which is powered by Bloody Disgusting.
“Easter brings the slow simmer to a roaring boil. Fraught psychological dread explodes in violent horror,...
- 10/14/2022
- by Brad Miska
- bloody-disgusting.com
Cinedigm has acquired all North American rights to the psychological horror film Family Dinner, which debuted at Tribeca earlier this year.
Cinedigm plans to release the film early next year, streaming exclusively on its Bloody Disgusting-powered horror platform Screambox.
Written and directed by Peter Hengl, produced by the Austrian company Capra Film and co-produced by Film Ag (Corsage), the film follows a teenager who spends the holidays at her aunt’s farm in the hope of getting help to lose weight, but soon after her arrival, she begins to suspect that something is very wrong at this place.
“Family Dinner is like watching from afar as Alice begins a slow disturbing descent down the rabbit hole,” said Brad Miska, Managing Director of Bloody Disgusting. “The momentarily serene mask that Hengl creates quickly falls away revealing how close the monsters from our nightmares might be. This is the kind of film that gets inside you,...
Cinedigm plans to release the film early next year, streaming exclusively on its Bloody Disgusting-powered horror platform Screambox.
Written and directed by Peter Hengl, produced by the Austrian company Capra Film and co-produced by Film Ag (Corsage), the film follows a teenager who spends the holidays at her aunt’s farm in the hope of getting help to lose weight, but soon after her arrival, she begins to suspect that something is very wrong at this place.
“Family Dinner is like watching from afar as Alice begins a slow disturbing descent down the rabbit hole,” said Brad Miska, Managing Director of Bloody Disgusting. “The momentarily serene mask that Hengl creates quickly falls away revealing how close the monsters from our nightmares might be. This is the kind of film that gets inside you,...
- 10/14/2022
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
From the very first shots in Clara Stern’s Breaking The Ice (a highlight of the 21st edition of the Tribeca Film Festival) we are seized under the fast-moving spell of the Dragons, a Viennese women’s ice hockey team. Mira (Alina Schaller), the protagonist whose journey the film follows most closely, is the captain. Her family owns a vineyard where she works together with her mother and grandfather (Wolfgang Böck), whose dementia begins to creep into the fibre of everything.
The armour-like uniforms of the sport when shed in the locker room of the Dragons reveal an array of very different women. One of them, Theresa (Judith Altenberger), newly joined the team and from the start it is clear that not-yet-definable sparks are flying between her and Mira. Dynamics shift when one day Mira’s brother Paul (Tobias Samuel...
The armour-like uniforms of the sport when shed in the locker room of the Dragons reveal an array of very different women. One of them, Theresa (Judith Altenberger), newly joined the team and from the start it is clear that not-yet-definable sparks are flying between her and Mira. Dynamics shift when one day Mira’s brother Paul (Tobias Samuel...
- 7/15/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Clara Stern on Paul (Tobias Samuel Resch) on the bridge chasing after Theresa (Judith Altenberger) and Mira (Alina Schaller) in Breaking the Ice recalling François Truffaut’s Jules et Jim: “I noticed it while editing that we did that.” Photo: Johannes Hoss
Clara Stern’s Breaking The Ice, shot by Johannes Hoss with a score by Benedikt Palier and edited by Matthias Writze, stars Judith Altenberger Alina Schaller Tobias Samuel Resch, Pia Hierzegger (Peter Hengl’s Family Dinner), and Wolfgang Böck. It will be screened later this month in OutfestLA. The director discussed why she has a “big fascination with professional athletes,” her work with the composer and cinematographer, seeing in the editing a resemblance to a scene in François Truffaut’s Jules Et Jim, her Vienna Film Academy connection to Michael Haneke, Barbara Albert, Jessica Hausner, and Marie Kreutzer, where the Dragons come from, and a phone call to her grandmother.
Clara Stern’s Breaking The Ice, shot by Johannes Hoss with a score by Benedikt Palier and edited by Matthias Writze, stars Judith Altenberger Alina Schaller Tobias Samuel Resch, Pia Hierzegger (Peter Hengl’s Family Dinner), and Wolfgang Böck. It will be screened later this month in OutfestLA. The director discussed why she has a “big fascination with professional athletes,” her work with the composer and cinematographer, seeing in the editing a resemblance to a scene in François Truffaut’s Jules Et Jim, her Vienna Film Academy connection to Michael Haneke, Barbara Albert, Jessica Hausner, and Marie Kreutzer, where the Dragons come from, and a phone call to her grandmother.
- 7/15/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
In writer/director Peter Hengl’s unsettling directorial debut Family Dinner, tension and dread are both on the menu as a teen’s desire to lose weight takes her on a sinister journey that culminates in a shocking finale that left me rattled. At the start, we’re introduced to Simi (Nina Katlein) who is being dropped off at the home of her aunt Claudia (Pia Hierzegger) who is a renowned nutritionist and author who specializes in clean culinary activities. Claudia lives on her compound with her lover Stefan (Michael Pink) and troubled teenage son Filipp (Alexander Sladek) who seemingly has more issues than a subscription to Rolling Stone. When Simi arrives, she’s not exactly welcomed in by her hosts, but once she tells Claudia that she wants her aunt to help her change her life, the dynamic changes, and suddenly it seems like everything is looking up for Simi.
- 6/12/2022
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Stefan (Michael Pink), Simi (Nina Katlein), Claudia (Pia Hierzegger), and Filipp (Alexander Sladek) in Peter Hengl’s Family Dinner Photo: Gabriel Krajanek
Peter Hengl’s Family Dinner, a highlight of the 21st edition of the Tribeca Film Festival, has a modern day Hansel and Gretel feel. Philipp Otto Runge’s Juniper Tree (Von dem Machandelboom), a tale that inspired the Brothers Grimm stylistically, may come to mind, or movies such as Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining or Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover while watching this story of food, desire, family, customs, and control unfold on the screen.
Peter Hengl with Anne-Katrin Titze on Hansel and Gretel: “I wanted to go for a certain timelessness and make it relatable for a modern audience.”
Simi (Nina Katlein) arrives in a remote part of Austria on the farm where her aunt Claudia lives with her son...
Peter Hengl’s Family Dinner, a highlight of the 21st edition of the Tribeca Film Festival, has a modern day Hansel and Gretel feel. Philipp Otto Runge’s Juniper Tree (Von dem Machandelboom), a tale that inspired the Brothers Grimm stylistically, may come to mind, or movies such as Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining or Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover while watching this story of food, desire, family, customs, and control unfold on the screen.
Peter Hengl with Anne-Katrin Titze on Hansel and Gretel: “I wanted to go for a certain timelessness and make it relatable for a modern audience.”
Simi (Nina Katlein) arrives in a remote part of Austria on the farm where her aunt Claudia lives with her son...
- 6/11/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Films Boutique has acquired four films set to world premiere at Cannes, including Albert Serra (“The Death of Louis Xiv”)’s “Pacifiction” which will compete in the 75th edition’s Official Selection.
The Berlin-based international sales banner has also acquired rising Morrocan helmer Maryam Touzani (“Adam”)’s “The Blue Caftan” and Costa Rican director Ariel Escalante Meza’s “Domingo and the Mist” which will both play in Un Certain Regard; as well as Portuguese filmmaker João Pedro Rodrigues (“The Ornithologist”)’s “Will-o’-The-Wisp,” set for Directors’ Fortnight.
“Pacifiction” stars Cesar-winning French actor Benoit Magimel (“Peaceful”) as a calculating French government official working in the French Polynesian island of Tahiti. While investigating on a mysterious submarine, he navigates the high end ’establishment,’ and mingles with locals in underground venues.
Serra was last in Cannes with his 2019 feature film “Liberté” which won the jury prize at Un Certain Regard.”‘Pacifiction’ is a...
The Berlin-based international sales banner has also acquired rising Morrocan helmer Maryam Touzani (“Adam”)’s “The Blue Caftan” and Costa Rican director Ariel Escalante Meza’s “Domingo and the Mist” which will both play in Un Certain Regard; as well as Portuguese filmmaker João Pedro Rodrigues (“The Ornithologist”)’s “Will-o’-The-Wisp,” set for Directors’ Fortnight.
“Pacifiction” stars Cesar-winning French actor Benoit Magimel (“Peaceful”) as a calculating French government official working in the French Polynesian island of Tahiti. While investigating on a mysterious submarine, he navigates the high end ’establishment,’ and mingles with locals in underground venues.
Serra was last in Cannes with his 2019 feature film “Liberté” which won the jury prize at Un Certain Regard.”‘Pacifiction’ is a...
- 5/6/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Tribeca Film Festival 2022 - Midnight Selections: The Tribeca Film Festival 2022's Midnight selections have been announced and include a screening of The Black Phone, along with the world premiere of Travis Stevens' A Wounded Fawn:
"Attachment (Natten Har Øjne), (Denmark) – Feature Narrative, International Premiere. Maja and Leah’s new relationship is interrupted when mysterious things start happening in their London flat. It seems that Leah’s disapproving mother, who lives downstairs, is using Jewish folklore to come between them. In Danish and English with English subtitles. Directed and written by Gabriel Bier Gislason. Produced by Thomas Heinesen. With Josephine Park, Ellie Kendrick, Sofie Gråbøl, David Dencik. A Shudder release.
The Black Phone, (United States) – Feature Narrative, New York Premiere. Locked in a soundproof basement by a masked child killer, a teenage boy finds the possibility of hope through an unexpected and supernatural lifeline: a telephone on which he receives...
"Attachment (Natten Har Øjne), (Denmark) – Feature Narrative, International Premiere. Maja and Leah’s new relationship is interrupted when mysterious things start happening in their London flat. It seems that Leah’s disapproving mother, who lives downstairs, is using Jewish folklore to come between them. In Danish and English with English subtitles. Directed and written by Gabriel Bier Gislason. Produced by Thomas Heinesen. With Josephine Park, Ellie Kendrick, Sofie Gråbøl, David Dencik. A Shudder release.
The Black Phone, (United States) – Feature Narrative, New York Premiere. Locked in a soundproof basement by a masked child killer, a teenage boy finds the possibility of hope through an unexpected and supernatural lifeline: a telephone on which he receives...
- 4/27/2022
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Picture Tree Intl. has picked up the global sales rights on comedy drama “Risks and Side Effects,” which follows a woman’s kidney transplant journey that threatens to break-up her friendships and marriage. The sales agency will launch sales at the European Film Market (March 1-5). Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer.
Austrian helmer Michael Kreihsl wrote and directed the film, which is based on a play of the same name by Stefan Vögel. It stars Samuel Finzi and Inka Friedrich (“God You’re Such a Pr—“), alongside Pia Hierzegger and Thomas Mraz (“The Tobacconist”).
In the film a routine check-up reveals that Pilates trainer Kathrin is suffering from kidney disease and needs a transplant. Her husband Arnold is a successful architect in the middle of a large project and is afraid of donating one of his kidneys. Götz, a friend of the couple’s, would undergo...
Austrian helmer Michael Kreihsl wrote and directed the film, which is based on a play of the same name by Stefan Vögel. It stars Samuel Finzi and Inka Friedrich (“God You’re Such a Pr—“), alongside Pia Hierzegger and Thomas Mraz (“The Tobacconist”).
In the film a routine check-up reveals that Pilates trainer Kathrin is suffering from kidney disease and needs a transplant. Her husband Arnold is a successful architect in the middle of a large project and is afraid of donating one of his kidneys. Götz, a friend of the couple’s, would undergo...
- 2/22/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
“Compassion is a weakness, isn’t it?” yells a homeless woman at polished business consultant Lola Wegenstein, for refusing to give her spare change, making reference to what she assumes the cutthroat world of suits is like. She is not wrong, and Lola, an incredibly capable professional continually undermined in male-dominated environments, knows it too well.
That glorification of heartless assertiveness for career advancement — expected in men and demanded of women — is incompatible with the inherent vulnerability of the human mind. Still, in highly competitive settings, ruthlessness is rewarded while any indication of softness is despised. In “The Ground Beneath My Feet,” the superbly calibrated new feature from Austrian writer-director Marie Kreutzer, the clash between these opposite approaches to life and work is interpreted as an ambivalent psychological thriller enriched with searing social commentary.
A rising ace at a firm in charge of overseeing layoffs and unpopular transitions to make struggling companies more viable,...
That glorification of heartless assertiveness for career advancement — expected in men and demanded of women — is incompatible with the inherent vulnerability of the human mind. Still, in highly competitive settings, ruthlessness is rewarded while any indication of softness is despised. In “The Ground Beneath My Feet,” the superbly calibrated new feature from Austrian writer-director Marie Kreutzer, the clash between these opposite approaches to life and work is interpreted as an ambivalent psychological thriller enriched with searing social commentary.
A rising ace at a firm in charge of overseeing layoffs and unpopular transitions to make struggling companies more viable,...
- 8/2/2019
- by Carlos Aguilar
- The Wrap
The Ground Beneath My Feet (Der boden unter den fuessen) Strand Releasing Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Marie Kreutzer Screenwriter: Marie Kreutzer Cast: Valerie Pachner, Pia Hierzegger, Mavie Hoerbiger, Michelle Barthel, Marc Benjamin, Alex Sichrovsky Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 6/26/19 Opens: At IFC in New York […]
The post The Ground Beneath My Feet Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post The Ground Beneath My Feet Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 7/21/2019
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
"Everyone makes mistakes." "Not you." Strand Releasing has debuted the official Us trailer for acclaimed Austrian film The Ground Beneath My Feet, also titled Der Boden unter den Füßen in German (which translates exactly to the English title). This premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in competition earlier this year, and has played at a few other international festivals. This new film from filmmaker Marie Kreutzer is "taut psychological thriller reminiscent of Repulsion", about a businesswoman who struggles to keep herself grounded while always on the go trying to manage clients. Valerie Pachner (who also headlines Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life) stars as Lola, along with Pia Hierzegger, Mavie Hörbiger, Michelle Barthel, Marc Benjamin, Dominic Marcus Singer, and Meo Wulf. I caught this film at Berlinale and it's very good, a brutally honest look at how the business life can swallow people up and suck all the life out of them.
- 6/30/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Austria, World premiere, Competition, directed by Marie Kreutzer (fourth feature) and starring slim, austerely sexy, Valerie Pachner in a lesbian tale disguised as a workaholic drama that grinds the viewer down into submission, little by little.Director and cast on the Red Carpet
It would have been better placed in the Lgbt Teddy section although it is as strong overall as many other competition entries. If you’ve wondered how lesbians get it on one of the bedroom scenes demonstrates that the Missionary Position is at least one favored technique. The two lovers, both slim blondes, look so much alike I couldn’t quite tell who was on top but it was definitely a hot scene that ended in a screaming orgasm for the supine member that looked totally authentic and not the least bit faked (as it were).
Of course there is lots more to this movie than the all female sex but,...
It would have been better placed in the Lgbt Teddy section although it is as strong overall as many other competition entries. If you’ve wondered how lesbians get it on one of the bedroom scenes demonstrates that the Missionary Position is at least one favored technique. The two lovers, both slim blondes, look so much alike I couldn’t quite tell who was on top but it was definitely a hot scene that ended in a screaming orgasm for the supine member that looked totally authentic and not the least bit faked (as it were).
Of course there is lots more to this movie than the all female sex but,...
- 2/18/2019
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Lola (Valerie Pachner) wakes with a start. She has what we’ll soon learn is an uncharacteristic smudge of mascara beneath her too-bright, too-awake eyes. But then this is the Lola of later, not the woman to whom Marie Kreutzer’s nervy, nuanced drama “The Ground Beneath My Feet” first introduces us — not the ambitious, high-performance business consultant, whose only respite from a grueling, high-heels-and-rolling-suitcase lifestyle appears to be a similarly grueling workout regime. Whether sweating ferociously in some anonymous hotel gym, prepping for a 48-hour workday with a morning jog or burning the midnight oil over spreadsheets and data analysis, the ground beneath Lola’s feet is a treadmill.
The absolute order of her life, compartmentalized right down to the borderline psychotic neatness of her underwear drawer, conceals a messy secret: Lola’s older sister, Conny (Pia Hierzegger) is a paranoid schizophrenic who has been hospitalized following a suicide...
The absolute order of her life, compartmentalized right down to the borderline psychotic neatness of her underwear drawer, conceals a messy secret: Lola’s older sister, Conny (Pia Hierzegger) is a paranoid schizophrenic who has been hospitalized following a suicide...
- 2/9/2019
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — In the long run-up to February’s Berlin Festival, Picture Tree Intl. has rolled out multiple pre-sales on “100 Things,” which Warner Bros. Pictures bowed in Germany on Dec. 6 to a robust first eight-day €2.7 million ($3.07 million).
“100 Things” will receive a market screening at the Berlinale’s European Film Market.
The third feature from Florian David Fitz as a writer-director and actor, whose 2016 “The Most Beautiful Day” earned in Germany, “100 Things” was released in its original German language day-and-date with Germany in Belgium (Kino Scala) and Luxembourg (Utopia).
Of major territories, Picture Tree Intl. has also closed Cis and the Baltic States with Volgafilm, which has scheduled a theatrical release in Russia in the first quarter of next year, and with China’s Red Apollo Group, which aims to release “100 Things” in Chinese theaters third-quarter 2019.
Inspired by the Finnish documentary “My Stuff,” “100 Things” has also closed former Yugoslavia (2i Film D.
“100 Things” will receive a market screening at the Berlinale’s European Film Market.
The third feature from Florian David Fitz as a writer-director and actor, whose 2016 “The Most Beautiful Day” earned in Germany, “100 Things” was released in its original German language day-and-date with Germany in Belgium (Kino Scala) and Luxembourg (Utopia).
Of major territories, Picture Tree Intl. has also closed Cis and the Baltic States with Volgafilm, which has scheduled a theatrical release in Russia in the first quarter of next year, and with China’s Red Apollo Group, which aims to release “100 Things” in Chinese theaters third-quarter 2019.
Inspired by the Finnish documentary “My Stuff,” “100 Things” has also closed former Yugoslavia (2i Film D.
- 12/18/2018
- by John Hopewell and Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Nine titles announced for Berlinale, which runs Feb 7-17.
The first films have been announced for the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival Competition and Berlinale Special sections.
The Competition line-up includes new films by Fatih Akin (The Golden Glove), François Ozon (By the Grace of God) and Denis Côté (Ghost Town Anthology).
The other three films in the strand are Marie Kreutzer’s The Ground Beneath My Feet, Angela Schanelec’s I Was at Home, but and Emin Alper’s A Tale of Three Sisters. All are world premieres except By the Grace Of God which is an international premiere.
The...
The first films have been announced for the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival Competition and Berlinale Special sections.
The Competition line-up includes new films by Fatih Akin (The Golden Glove), François Ozon (By the Grace of God) and Denis Côté (Ghost Town Anthology).
The other three films in the strand are Marie Kreutzer’s The Ground Beneath My Feet, Angela Schanelec’s I Was at Home, but and Emin Alper’s A Tale of Three Sisters. All are world premieres except By the Grace Of God which is an international premiere.
The...
- 12/13/2018
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
The Berlin Film Festival has revealed the first wave of titles for its competition lineup, including new films from François Ozon, Marie Kreutzer, Denis Côté and Fatih Akin. Charles Ferguson’s Watergate documentary is among the Berlinale Special titles.
The first nine Competition and Berlinale Special films were revealed today, alongside the previously announced opening film, The Kindness of Strangers by Lone Scherfig.
Festival favourites Akin (In The Fade) and Ozon (In The House) return with German-language thriller The Golden Glove and French-language drama By The Grace Of God, respectively. The former follows a serial killer who strikes fear in the hearts of residents of Hamburg during the early 1970s. The latter looks at a real-life case of sexual abuses allegedly committed by a French priest in the late 1980s. Oscar-winner Ferguson (Inside Job) will present anticipated 260-minute feature doc Watergate, which is sure to draw plenty of contemporary parallels.
The first nine Competition and Berlinale Special films were revealed today, alongside the previously announced opening film, The Kindness of Strangers by Lone Scherfig.
Festival favourites Akin (In The Fade) and Ozon (In The House) return with German-language thriller The Golden Glove and French-language drama By The Grace Of God, respectively. The former follows a serial killer who strikes fear in the hearts of residents of Hamburg during the early 1970s. The latter looks at a real-life case of sexual abuses allegedly committed by a French priest in the late 1980s. Oscar-winner Ferguson (Inside Job) will present anticipated 260-minute feature doc Watergate, which is sure to draw plenty of contemporary parallels.
- 12/13/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Picture Tree Intl. is on board as the sales agent for “The Ground Beneath My Feet” (Der Boden Unter Den Füssen), which the Berlin Film Festival revealed Thursday will be in its main competition section. The Austrian drama, directed by Marie Kreutzer, stars Valerie Pachner, Mavie Hörbiger and Pia Hierzegger.
The film centers on high-powered business consultant Lola, who “controls her personal life with the same ruthless efficiency she uses to optimize profits in her job,” according to a statement. “No one knows about her older sister Conny or her family’s history of mental illness. But when a tragic event forces Conny back into Lola’s life and her secrets begin to unravel, Lola’s grip on reality slips away.”
The film is Kreutzer’s second Berlinale entry following “The Fatherless” (Die Vaterlosen), which premiered in Panorama Special sidebar in 2011 and received a special mention as best first feature.
The film centers on high-powered business consultant Lola, who “controls her personal life with the same ruthless efficiency she uses to optimize profits in her job,” according to a statement. “No one knows about her older sister Conny or her family’s history of mental illness. But when a tragic event forces Conny back into Lola’s life and her secrets begin to unravel, Lola’s grip on reality slips away.”
The film is Kreutzer’s second Berlinale entry following “The Fatherless” (Die Vaterlosen), which premiered in Panorama Special sidebar in 2011 and received a special mention as best first feature.
- 12/13/2018
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlin International Film Festival announced 13 additions to its 2017 line-up, including the international premiere of Danny Boyle’s hotly anticipated “Trainspotting” follow-up, “Trainspotting: T2,” and the world premiere of James Mangold’s “Logan,” the third in the growing “Wolverine” franchise, starring Hugh Jackman. Both films will play out of competition.
Read More: ‘Logan’ Trailer: Hugh Jackman’s Final Wolverine Movie Mixes The Superhero Genre With The Western
Hong Sangsoo’s “On the Beach Alone at Night” will make its world premiere at the festival, the latest from the idiosyncratic Korean director whose last film, “Right Now, Wrong Then,” garnered attention at festivals in 2016.
Other promising titles include the world premiere of “The Tin Drum” director Volker Schlöndorff’s “Return To Montauk,” starring Stellan Skarsgård, and “Viceroy’s House,” a period drama from the woman behind “Bend it Like Beckham,” Gurinder Chadha. The Austrian actor Josef Hader also will make...
Read More: ‘Logan’ Trailer: Hugh Jackman’s Final Wolverine Movie Mixes The Superhero Genre With The Western
Hong Sangsoo’s “On the Beach Alone at Night” will make its world premiere at the festival, the latest from the idiosyncratic Korean director whose last film, “Right Now, Wrong Then,” garnered attention at festivals in 2016.
Other promising titles include the world premiere of “The Tin Drum” director Volker Schlöndorff’s “Return To Montauk,” starring Stellan Skarsgård, and “Viceroy’s House,” a period drama from the woman behind “Bend it Like Beckham,” Gurinder Chadha. The Austrian actor Josef Hader also will make...
- 1/10/2017
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
X-Men spinoff and Trainspotting sequel to play Out of Competition.
A further 13 films have been invited to screen in the Competition and Berlinale Special section at the 67th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival.
The festival has added commercial clout to its Out Of Competition lineup in the shape of Danny Boyle’s T2 Trainspotting and X-Men spinoff Logan.
There are also competition berths for new films by Hong Sangsoo, Thomas Arslan, Volker Schlöndorff, Sabu, Álex de la Iglesia and Josef Hader.
Bend It Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha’s latest, Viceroy’s House, will have its world premiere out of competition at the festival. Starring Hugh Bonneville alongside Gillian Anderson, the period drama set in 1947 India depicts Lord Mountbatten, the man charged with handing India back to its people.
Also having its world premiered out of competition will be Álex de la Iglesia’s The Bar, a comedy-thriller about a group of strangers who get...
A further 13 films have been invited to screen in the Competition and Berlinale Special section at the 67th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival.
The festival has added commercial clout to its Out Of Competition lineup in the shape of Danny Boyle’s T2 Trainspotting and X-Men spinoff Logan.
There are also competition berths for new films by Hong Sangsoo, Thomas Arslan, Volker Schlöndorff, Sabu, Álex de la Iglesia and Josef Hader.
Bend It Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha’s latest, Viceroy’s House, will have its world premiere out of competition at the festival. Starring Hugh Bonneville alongside Gillian Anderson, the period drama set in 1947 India depicts Lord Mountbatten, the man charged with handing India back to its people.
Also having its world premiered out of competition will be Álex de la Iglesia’s The Bar, a comedy-thriller about a group of strangers who get...
- 1/10/2017
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman) tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
After an initial line-up that included Aki Kaurismäki‘s The Other Side of Hope, Oren Moverman‘s Richard Gere-led The Dinner, Sally Potter‘s The Party, and Agnieszka Holland‘s Spoor, the Berlin International Film Festival have added more anticipated premieres. Highlights include one of two (maybe three) new Hong Sang-soo films this year, On the Beach at Night Alone, along with Volker Schlöndorff‘s Return to Montauk with Stellan Skarsgård and Nina Hoss, as well as the high-profile world premiere of James Mangold‘s Logan and the international premiere of Danny Boyle‘s T2: Trainspotting.
With Paul Verhoeven serving as jury president for the 67th edition of the festival, check out the new additions below.
Competition
Bamui haebyun-eoseo honja (On the Beach at Night Alone)
South Korea
By Hong Sangsoo (Nobody’s Daughter Haewon, Right Now, Wrong Then)
With Kim Minhee, Seo Younghwa, Jung Jaeyoung, Moon Sungkeun,...
With Paul Verhoeven serving as jury president for the 67th edition of the festival, check out the new additions below.
Competition
Bamui haebyun-eoseo honja (On the Beach at Night Alone)
South Korea
By Hong Sangsoo (Nobody’s Daughter Haewon, Right Now, Wrong Then)
With Kim Minhee, Seo Younghwa, Jung Jaeyoung, Moon Sungkeun,...
- 1/10/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Screened at the Berlin International Film Festival
BERLIN -- "Slumming" has odd moments of wry, dark humor. Ultimately, though, darkness overshadows humor with characters that are either so overbearing or misanthropic that they destroy any enjoyment of its quirky nature. Director/co-writer Michael Glawogger, who has worked on both documentaries and features, says he pulled the story together from here and there -- a long-ago dialogue in a bar with a drunk, another character he met while making a docu, a teacher he knows all too well and travels through Viennese dives while making yet another movie. This shows in the patchwork nature of the screenplay with two virtually separate story lines and characters you wouldn't want to spend time with even in a bar.
Reportedly the first Austrian film to screen in competition at the Berlinale in 20 years, "Slumming" appears headed for a few European play dates, mostly in German-speaking territories, and possibly a European TV sale. It's not a film that travels well internationally.
Initially, it's hard to tell which set of characters is the greater turnoff. Two Viennese yuppies -- Sebastian (August Diehl), a slick rich kid who holds most people and especially women in contempt, and his easily manipulated roommate Alex Michael Ostrowski) -- fight off boredom by "slumming." This involves cruising Viennese bars, clubs, casinos and video arcades in search of people easily tricked or made to appear foolish. Sebastian especially enjoys surfing the Internet for dates he meets in a cafe where he surreptitiously takes digital photos of their panties under the table. Don't you just love these guys?
Then there is the street poet, Kallmann (Paulus Manker), a disheveled ruin of a man who gets so drunk as to seem mentally challenged. Staggering down a street, he aggressively pushes his pathetic poems on people, swears at everyone and even accosts and beats one fellow to steal his backpack. Another lovable character, no?
Finally, there is Sebastian's latest "date," Pia (Pia Hierzegger), a schoolteacher who talks too much and says too little. Somehow she gets under Sebastian's skin. Some of these characters briefly converge in the boys' latest cruel trick. Sebastian and Alex discover Kallmann drunkenly passed out on a bench one snowy night. Sebastian prevails upon a reluctant Alex To help him load Kallmann into his car trunk. They then drive the poet across the border into the Czech Republic, where they dump him without an ID. Kallman awakens in the morning in a land whose language he does not speak and with no idea how to get back home.
The two stories now forge ahead on parallel tracks. Kallmann struggles through a frozen landscape to sneak back over the border, while Sebastian pursues Pia with something like dedication but certainly not love. When Sebastian confesses his latest cruel joke to Pia, she angrily dumps him and goes in search of the lost poet.
Perhaps if more time where spent by Glawogger and co-screenwriter Barbara Albert developing the intricacies and backgrounds of these characters -- what makes them tick and what possibly redeems them as human beings -- then more humor could have been mined from their situations. As it is, Kallmann, now sober and almost resourceful, makes the more interesting story as he trudges bravely ahead. How much more interesting these sections would be, though, if we understood how he arrived at this pathetic stage of life.
Sebastian's story line goes dead once Pia flees from him. The filmmakers then make the odd decision to send him off to Indonesia, where he appears more lost than Kallmann.
So the movie just sits there, a collection of unraveled story lines, off-putting characters and little dramatic impetus. Production values are solid as the film provides a glimpse of Vienna that makes the film intriguing even when its stories do not.
SLUMMING
Bavaria Film International presentsa Lotus-Film production in co-production with Dischoint Ventschr Filmproduktion, coop99 and Abraxas
Credits:
Director: Michael Glawogger
Screenwriters: Michael Glawogger, Barbara Albert
Producer: Erich Lackner
Director of photography: Martin Gschlacht
Production designer: Maria Gruber
Music: Peter Von Siebenthal, Daniel Jakob, Till Wyler, Walter W. Cikan
Costumes: Martina List
Editor: Christof Schertenleib
Cast:
Franz Kallmann: Paulus Manker
Sebastian: August Diehl
Alex: Michael Ostrowski
Pia: Pia Hierzegger
Herta: Maria Bill
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 100 minutes...
BERLIN -- "Slumming" has odd moments of wry, dark humor. Ultimately, though, darkness overshadows humor with characters that are either so overbearing or misanthropic that they destroy any enjoyment of its quirky nature. Director/co-writer Michael Glawogger, who has worked on both documentaries and features, says he pulled the story together from here and there -- a long-ago dialogue in a bar with a drunk, another character he met while making a docu, a teacher he knows all too well and travels through Viennese dives while making yet another movie. This shows in the patchwork nature of the screenplay with two virtually separate story lines and characters you wouldn't want to spend time with even in a bar.
Reportedly the first Austrian film to screen in competition at the Berlinale in 20 years, "Slumming" appears headed for a few European play dates, mostly in German-speaking territories, and possibly a European TV sale. It's not a film that travels well internationally.
Initially, it's hard to tell which set of characters is the greater turnoff. Two Viennese yuppies -- Sebastian (August Diehl), a slick rich kid who holds most people and especially women in contempt, and his easily manipulated roommate Alex Michael Ostrowski) -- fight off boredom by "slumming." This involves cruising Viennese bars, clubs, casinos and video arcades in search of people easily tricked or made to appear foolish. Sebastian especially enjoys surfing the Internet for dates he meets in a cafe where he surreptitiously takes digital photos of their panties under the table. Don't you just love these guys?
Then there is the street poet, Kallmann (Paulus Manker), a disheveled ruin of a man who gets so drunk as to seem mentally challenged. Staggering down a street, he aggressively pushes his pathetic poems on people, swears at everyone and even accosts and beats one fellow to steal his backpack. Another lovable character, no?
Finally, there is Sebastian's latest "date," Pia (Pia Hierzegger), a schoolteacher who talks too much and says too little. Somehow she gets under Sebastian's skin. Some of these characters briefly converge in the boys' latest cruel trick. Sebastian and Alex discover Kallmann drunkenly passed out on a bench one snowy night. Sebastian prevails upon a reluctant Alex To help him load Kallmann into his car trunk. They then drive the poet across the border into the Czech Republic, where they dump him without an ID. Kallman awakens in the morning in a land whose language he does not speak and with no idea how to get back home.
The two stories now forge ahead on parallel tracks. Kallmann struggles through a frozen landscape to sneak back over the border, while Sebastian pursues Pia with something like dedication but certainly not love. When Sebastian confesses his latest cruel joke to Pia, she angrily dumps him and goes in search of the lost poet.
Perhaps if more time where spent by Glawogger and co-screenwriter Barbara Albert developing the intricacies and backgrounds of these characters -- what makes them tick and what possibly redeems them as human beings -- then more humor could have been mined from their situations. As it is, Kallmann, now sober and almost resourceful, makes the more interesting story as he trudges bravely ahead. How much more interesting these sections would be, though, if we understood how he arrived at this pathetic stage of life.
Sebastian's story line goes dead once Pia flees from him. The filmmakers then make the odd decision to send him off to Indonesia, where he appears more lost than Kallmann.
So the movie just sits there, a collection of unraveled story lines, off-putting characters and little dramatic impetus. Production values are solid as the film provides a glimpse of Vienna that makes the film intriguing even when its stories do not.
SLUMMING
Bavaria Film International presentsa Lotus-Film production in co-production with Dischoint Ventschr Filmproduktion, coop99 and Abraxas
Credits:
Director: Michael Glawogger
Screenwriters: Michael Glawogger, Barbara Albert
Producer: Erich Lackner
Director of photography: Martin Gschlacht
Production designer: Maria Gruber
Music: Peter Von Siebenthal, Daniel Jakob, Till Wyler, Walter W. Cikan
Costumes: Martina List
Editor: Christof Schertenleib
Cast:
Franz Kallmann: Paulus Manker
Sebastian: August Diehl
Alex: Michael Ostrowski
Pia: Pia Hierzegger
Herta: Maria Bill
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 100 minutes...
- 2/13/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Screened at the Berlin International Film Festival
BERLIN -- "Slumming" has odd moments of wry, dark humor. Ultimately though, darkness overshadows humor as characters that are either so overbearing or misanthropic that they destroy any enjoyment of its quirky nature. Director/co-writer Michael Glawogger, who has worked on both documentaries and features, says he pulled the story together from here and there -- a long-ago dialogue in a bar with a drunk, another character he met while making a doc, a teacher he knows all too well and travels through Viennese dives while making yet another movie. This shows in the patchwork nature of the screenplay with two virtually separate storylines and characters you wouldn't want to spend time with even in a bar.
Reportedly, the first Austrian film to screen in competition at the Berlinale in 20 years, "Slumming" appears headed for a few European play dates, mostly in German-speaking territories, and possibly a European TV sale. It's not a film that travels well internationally.
Initially, it's hard to tell which set of characters is the greater turn-off. Two Viennese yuppies, Sebastian (August Diehl), a slick rich kid who holds most people and especially women in contempt, and his easily manipulated roommate Alex Michael Ostrowski), fight off boredom by "slumming." This involves cruising Viennese bars, clubs, casinos and video arcades in search of people easily tricked or made to appear foolish. Sebastian especially enjoys surfing the Internet for dates he meets in a cafe where he surreptitiously takes digital photos under the table of their panties. Don't you just love these guys?
Then there is the street poet, Kallmann (Paulus Manker), a disheveled ruin of a man who gets so drunk as to seem mentally challenged. Staggering down a street, he aggressively pushes his pathetic poems on people, swears at everyone and even accosts and beats one fellow to steal his backpack. Another loveable character, no?
Finally, there is Sebastian's latest "date," Pia (Pia Hierzegger), a schoolteacher who talks too much and says too little. Somehow she gets under Sebastian's skin.
Some of these characters briefly converge in the boys' latest cruel trick. Sebastian and Alex discover Kallmann drunkenly passed out on a bench one snowy night. Sebastian prevails upon a reluctant Alex To help him load Kallmann into his car truck. They then drive the poet across the border into the Czech Republic where they dump him without an I.D. Kallman awakens in the morning in a land whose language he does not speak and with no idea how to get back home.
The two stories now forge ahead on parallel tracks. Kallmann struggles through a frozen landscape to sneak back over the border while Sebastian pursues Pia with something like dedication but certainly not love. When Sebastian confesses his latest cruel joke to Pia, she angrily dumps him and goes in search of the lost poet.
Perhaps if more time where spent by Glawogger and co-writer Barbara Albert developing the intricacies and backgrounds of these characters -- what makes them tick and what possibly redeems them as human beings -- then more humor could have been mined from their situations. As it is,
Kallmann, now sober and almost resourceful, makes the more interesting story as he trudges bravely ahead. How much more interesting these section would be though if we understood how he arrived at this pathetic stage of life.
Sebastian's storyline goes dead once Pia flees from him. The filmmakers then make the odd decision to send him off to Indonesia, where he appears more lost than Kallmann.
So the movie just sits there, a collection of unraveled story lines, off-putting characters and little dramatic impetus. Production values are solid as the film provides a glimpse of Vienna that makes the film intriguing even when its stories do not.
SLUMMING
Bavaria Film International presents a Lotus-Film production in in co-production with Dischoint Ventschr Filmproduktion, coop99 and Abraxas
Credits:
Director: Michael Glawogger
Writers: Michael Glawogger, Barbara Albert
Producer: Erich Lackner
Director of photography: Martin Gschlacht
Production designer: Maria Gruber
Music: Peter Von Siebenthal, Daniel Jakob, Till Wyler, Walter W. Cikan
Costumes: Martina List
Editor: Christof Schertenleib.
Cast:
Franz Kallmann: Paulus Manker
Sebastian: August Diehl
Alex: Michael Ostrowski
Pia: Pia Hierzegger
Herta: Maria Bill
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 100 minutes...
BERLIN -- "Slumming" has odd moments of wry, dark humor. Ultimately though, darkness overshadows humor as characters that are either so overbearing or misanthropic that they destroy any enjoyment of its quirky nature. Director/co-writer Michael Glawogger, who has worked on both documentaries and features, says he pulled the story together from here and there -- a long-ago dialogue in a bar with a drunk, another character he met while making a doc, a teacher he knows all too well and travels through Viennese dives while making yet another movie. This shows in the patchwork nature of the screenplay with two virtually separate storylines and characters you wouldn't want to spend time with even in a bar.
Reportedly, the first Austrian film to screen in competition at the Berlinale in 20 years, "Slumming" appears headed for a few European play dates, mostly in German-speaking territories, and possibly a European TV sale. It's not a film that travels well internationally.
Initially, it's hard to tell which set of characters is the greater turn-off. Two Viennese yuppies, Sebastian (August Diehl), a slick rich kid who holds most people and especially women in contempt, and his easily manipulated roommate Alex Michael Ostrowski), fight off boredom by "slumming." This involves cruising Viennese bars, clubs, casinos and video arcades in search of people easily tricked or made to appear foolish. Sebastian especially enjoys surfing the Internet for dates he meets in a cafe where he surreptitiously takes digital photos under the table of their panties. Don't you just love these guys?
Then there is the street poet, Kallmann (Paulus Manker), a disheveled ruin of a man who gets so drunk as to seem mentally challenged. Staggering down a street, he aggressively pushes his pathetic poems on people, swears at everyone and even accosts and beats one fellow to steal his backpack. Another loveable character, no?
Finally, there is Sebastian's latest "date," Pia (Pia Hierzegger), a schoolteacher who talks too much and says too little. Somehow she gets under Sebastian's skin.
Some of these characters briefly converge in the boys' latest cruel trick. Sebastian and Alex discover Kallmann drunkenly passed out on a bench one snowy night. Sebastian prevails upon a reluctant Alex To help him load Kallmann into his car truck. They then drive the poet across the border into the Czech Republic where they dump him without an I.D. Kallman awakens in the morning in a land whose language he does not speak and with no idea how to get back home.
The two stories now forge ahead on parallel tracks. Kallmann struggles through a frozen landscape to sneak back over the border while Sebastian pursues Pia with something like dedication but certainly not love. When Sebastian confesses his latest cruel joke to Pia, she angrily dumps him and goes in search of the lost poet.
Perhaps if more time where spent by Glawogger and co-writer Barbara Albert developing the intricacies and backgrounds of these characters -- what makes them tick and what possibly redeems them as human beings -- then more humor could have been mined from their situations. As it is,
Kallmann, now sober and almost resourceful, makes the more interesting story as he trudges bravely ahead. How much more interesting these section would be though if we understood how he arrived at this pathetic stage of life.
Sebastian's storyline goes dead once Pia flees from him. The filmmakers then make the odd decision to send him off to Indonesia, where he appears more lost than Kallmann.
So the movie just sits there, a collection of unraveled story lines, off-putting characters and little dramatic impetus. Production values are solid as the film provides a glimpse of Vienna that makes the film intriguing even when its stories do not.
SLUMMING
Bavaria Film International presents a Lotus-Film production in in co-production with Dischoint Ventschr Filmproduktion, coop99 and Abraxas
Credits:
Director: Michael Glawogger
Writers: Michael Glawogger, Barbara Albert
Producer: Erich Lackner
Director of photography: Martin Gschlacht
Production designer: Maria Gruber
Music: Peter Von Siebenthal, Daniel Jakob, Till Wyler, Walter W. Cikan
Costumes: Martina List
Editor: Christof Schertenleib.
Cast:
Franz Kallmann: Paulus Manker
Sebastian: August Diehl
Alex: Michael Ostrowski
Pia: Pia Hierzegger
Herta: Maria Bill
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 100 minutes...
- 2/10/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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