Tag: Austria

“Backwoods Crime” – TV Series Review

A scene from the Austrian TV series “Backwoods Crime.” on MHz Choice. Courtesy of MHz Choice

Some time ago, I reviewed ten mostly-unrelated tele-films from Austria, streaming on MHz Choice under the umbrella of “Backwoods Crime.” The casts, plots and locales are all different, just sharing the common thread of murders in the boondocks being handled in an intelligent, modest-action manner by whichever cops are called upon. All were worthwhile, to varying degrees. Not a lemon in the lot.

“Der Schutzengel” is the first of nine now being released for streaming under that heading. This one opens 12 years before its main action, with young Martin (Michael Steinocher) having his marriage proposal deflected by his girlfriend. She says they’re too young, but doesn’t fully close that door. We learn she disappeared shortly thereafter, with her whereabouts still unknown.

A dozen years later, Martin returns to that town as a police officer, planning to move into his old house with his new squeeze. But he starts having flashbacks to the unfinished business of that dangling proposal. Those mainly consist of the eye candy we get from Martin having recorded his then-topless intended, expecting a yes to be preserved for posterity.

Martin’s first case involves the long-term housemaid of the local gentry found dead in the pond where she regularly swam. It looks like an accident, but that wouldn’t give us 90 minutes of story line, would it? Once they determine it was murder, despite any apparent motives,questions arise as to whether it relates to that earlier disappearance, which has been gnawing at Martin ever since.

The case is overseen by Detective Paul Werner (Franz Karl), who methodically and calmly unravels the mystery(ies). There’s nothing glamorous about the process, but Karl’s low-key performance, balancing the sleuthing with sensitivity, is a pleasure to watch. He’s apparently played cops before, but this character deserves more chances to shine. Give the dude a real series, folks. Then be sure to send it along for streaming on our side of the pond.

The consistency of the quality throughout these ten gives good reason to expect more of the same from the other forthcoming nine.

That’s my last review for 2025. Happy New Year, everyone!

“Backwoods Crime: Der Schutzengel,” in German with English subtitles, streams on MHz Choice starting Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

A scene from the Austrian TV series “Backwoods Crimes.” Courtesy of MHz Choice. Copyright: ORF/Mona Film/Tivoli Film/Helga Rader

THE TESTAMENT – JFF 2018 Review

St. Louis Jewish Film Festival
Plaza Frontenac Cinema
Tuesday, June 5 at 7pm
Austria/Israel – In English, German and Hebrew with English subtitles
Director: Amichai Greenberg
Feature: 96 mins.
With introduction by Susan Balk, co-author of “Vienna’s Conscience” and Founding Director of Hate Brakers

In the taut Israeli-Austrian thriller/mystery THE TESTAMENT, Israeli historian Dr. Yoel Halberstam (Ori Pfeffer) is leading a team from the Jerusalem Holocaust Institute in high-profile court battle to preserve a site where 200 Jewish forced laborers were massacred and buried in Austria in March 1945. But the Israeli preservationists are racing a ticking clock, as the Austrian town of Lendsdorf is demanding proof of a mass grave before halting plans for a new development on the site. Halberstam must find it before the deadline set by the court. Unless the mass grave is found, the building plan will go ahead and the site will be obliterated.

The Israeli historian faces a number of problems. Witnesses to the historic events are few and, worse, no one knows the exact location of the mass grave. Several witnesses reported hearing the massacre but none can pinpoint the exact location of the mass grave. An additional problem is that an earlier attempt to bring this crime to light, one made soon after the war, resulted in the assassination of one witness, which drove the rest into hiding.

The gripping Israeli-Austrian mystery/drama THE TESTAMENT debuted at last year’s Venice Film Festival, and was well-received. Director Amichai Greenberg brings a fresh look at the Holocaust by focusing on this personal story and the questions it raises about identity.

Yoel Halberstam is a historian who has built his considerable reputation on his exacting research but despite his considerable skills, the solution to this puzzle keeps eluding him. An Orthodox Jew, Yoel lives for his work, with little time for a personal life. Yoel’s focus on his work and even his faith have narrowed his view of life and even his awareness of the modern world. Known for his passion for the truth, Yoel has devoted his life to his work, neglecting his family to the point that his wife divorced him.. Yoel lives with his elderly mother and his married sister who chides him for his neglect of his personal life. The historian struggles to make time to help his son prepare for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah but has trouble connecting with the boy.

While going through some classified testaments taken for the earlier post-war investigation, Yoel is startled to find his own mother’s name. His mother (Rivka Gur) had always refused to talk about the war, so the discovery sparks more than professional curiosity. Yoel’s hunger to know the truth leads him to use his access to restricted files to find out more, despite the ethical questions it raises. As the historian digs deeper, he discovers long-buried family secrets. The discoveries are shattering for Yoel but his compulsion to find the truth, no matter the consequences, drives him forward.

The acting is superb in this thought-provoking drama. Pfeffer does as excellent job as Yoel, wrestling with his conflicted feelings and with the mental puzzle of the mystery that confronts him. The mystery is tense and well-paced, and the plot is draws in larger issues around civilians in wartime, how war can bury secrets or leave lingering fears in survivors who are forever marked by their experience. The photography is striking, often visually beautiful. The film contrasts the modern architecture of locations against the hunt for a mystery about the past. The contrasts between the past and present world course through this exploration of truth and identity.

His discoveries during his research bring into question his assumptions about his own life and cause him to reassess it. Yoel’s mother Fanya (played well by Rivka Gur) dodges her son’s questions about the war, mostly by simply ignoring them. She’s in poor health which makes pressing her difficult, and Yoel’s frustration is palpable. While the personal crisis sends him reeling, he ultimately re-focuses on the task at hand. His research unexpectedly brings to light new information and a new view of the mystery of the mass grave that might help solve the puzzle.

THE TESTAMENT is an intriguing mystery and a different kind of Holocaust tale, as well as a thoughtful exploration of the nature of identity.

 

SLIFF 2017 Review – THE TESTAMENT

THE TESTAMENT will screen at Plaza Frontenac Cinema (Lindbergh Blvd. and Clayton Rd, Frontenac, MO 63131) as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. Showings are Monday, Nov. 6 at 7pm (purchase tickets HERE) and Thursday, Nov. 9 at 2:15pm (purchase tickets HERE).

In the taut Israeli-Austrian thriller/mystery THE TESTAMENT, focuses on Dr. Yoel Halberstam (Ori Pfeffer), an Israeli historian with the Jerusalem Holocaust Institute, who is leading a high-profile court battle to preserve a site in Austria where 200 Jewish forced laborers were massacred and buried in March 1945. But the Israeli team working to preserve the site are racing a ticking clock, as the Austrian town of Lendsdorf is preparing to build on the site and is demanding proof of a mass grave before halting that plan. The problem is that witnesses are few and no one knows the exact location of the mass grave. Halberstam must find it before the deadline set by the court runs out. Unless the mass grave is found, the building plan will go ahead and the site will be obliterated.

This gripping Israeli – Austrian mystery/drama THE TESTAMENT debuted at the Venice Film Festival. Halberstam is an Orthodox Jew who lives for his work, and is known for his commitment to truth and his exacting research. But the solution to this puzzle keeps eluding him. One reason is that an earlier attempt to bring this crime to light, one made soon after the war, resulted in the assassination of one witness, and the rest have gone into hiding. While going through some classified testaments taken for that earlier investigation, Halberstam is startled to find his own mother’s name.

His mother (Rivka Gur) had always refused to talk about the war and a drive to know the truth leads Yoel to use his access to restricted files to find out more, despite the ethical questions raised. As the historian digs deeper, he discovers his mother is not who they always believed she was. The discovery is shattering for her son and the secret leads him to questions nearly everything about his life. Still, Yoel’s compulsion to find the truth has, no matter the consequences, unexpectedly brings new information and a new view of the mystery of the mass grave that might help solve the puzzle.

Director Amichai Greenberg brings a fresh look at the Holocaust by focusing on this personal story and raising questions about identity. The mystery is tense and well-paced, and woven in well with an exploration of matters of identity, secrets buried in wartime, and lingering fears of survivors who are forever marked by their experience. The photography is striking, often visually beautiful, and the film contrasts modern architecture of locations against a mystery about the past. The contrasts between the past and present world course through this exploration of truth and identity.

Yoel’s focus on his work and even his Orthodox faith have narrowed his view of life and even his awareness of the modern world. Known for his passion for the truth, Yoel has devoted his life to his work, neglecting his family to the point that his wife divorced him. Yoel lives with his elderly mother and his married sister who chides him for his neglect of his personal life. The historian struggles to make time to help his son prepare for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah but has trouble connecting with the boy.

The acting is superb in this thought-provoking drama. Pfeffer does as excellent job as Yoel, wrestling with his conflicted feelings and with the mental puzzle of the mystery that confronts him. Yoel’s mother Fanya, played well by Rivka Gur, dodges her son’s questions about the war, mostly by simply ignoring them. She’s in poor health which makes pressing her difficult, and Yoel’s frustration is palpable.

His discovery about his mother brings into question his assumptions about his own identity and causes him to reassess his personal life. While the personal crisis sends him reeling, he ultimately must re-focuses on the task at hand.

THE TESTAMENT is an intriguing mystery and a different kind of Holocaust tale, as well as a thoughtful exploration of the nature of identity.

 

THE ROBBER – The Review

The stoic, determined , enigmatic loner has been the subject of many thrillers and action films. On either side of the the law, the single-minded protagonist has been a fixture in cinema perhaps best exemplified in the sixties and seventies movies of actors such as Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson. In the new film THE ROBBER we get to see a character based on a real person from the Austrian director Benjamin Heisenberg.

We first observe Johann Rettenberger ( Andreas Lust ) running in circles around a small patch of grass. Soon we learn that he is in prison. Taking up most of the space in his small cell is a electric treadmill, which he immediately puts to use. Johann meets with his parole officer prior to his imminent release. Thr officer wants to make sure that he has a plan for the outside and does not become part of another bank robbing gang. Johann tells the man what he wants to hear. After his release he rents a tiny, dreary apartment close to the train station. He then goes to a job placement center and re-connects with a counselor Erika ( Franziska Weisz ). The talk a bit about his old gang. Soon Johann is back robbing banks, but this time he goes solo. He also continues his running regimin and enters a marathon race. Visiting Erika in the spawling apartment she had shared with her late mother, Johann is invited to live there in one of the empty bedrooms. The roommates soon become lovers as his crime spree continues. Can he keep his criminal activites a secret from her? And when will the authorities catch up?

THE ROBBER is a fairly simple story told with a great deal of energy by Heisenberg. You can almost feel the adrenaline rush doing the hold up sequences perhaps more than in THE TOWN since Johann has no partners. One robbery goes terribly wrong and Johannn must abandon his stolen car and flee on foot. This is a wonderfully suspenseful bit of editing and camerawork as he dashes through buildings with no idea where the exit doors are located. In another great chase scene he bolts out of a police station and eludes his pursuers in the dark streets. Lust portrays him as a mystery. We don’t understand why he makes no attempt at living a normal life. Is he addicted to the danger? There’s no back story that explains his behavior. Erika tries to break through his tough demeanor with no success. THE ROBBER is a tense, taut, little thrill ride that is an interesting European spin on the American crime noir classics.

Overall Rating: Four Out of Five Stars

Review: ‘Revanche’

revanchemovie

REVANCHE, which is German for revenge, is a hard sell. An Austrian production, the film is in both German and Russian with tiny little white subtitles. The primary reason I start off by mentioning the subtitles is because a film as slow and generally uninteresting as REVANCHE is made even more difficult to appreciate by it’s often difficult to follow subtitles written in broken English.

Written and directed by Götz Spielmann, REVANCHE follows an ex-con named Alex (Johannes Krisch) as he plans a bank robbery he perceives as no fail. He intends to escape his insignificant life, running away with an attractive prostitute named Tamara (Irina Potapenko) who only wants to escape the sex business. Ironically, Alex has an unquenchable sex drive, but he cares deeply for Tamara and they get along well.

The initial obstacle for Alex and Tamara is her boss Konecny, a big hulking gorilla of a man who has big plans for Tamara. Plans of which she holds no interest in pursuing and becomes the final straw, convincing the lovers to finally flee their mutual misery. They are both at risk of Konecny’s wrath as Alex also has been working for him as a sort of bouncer and miscellaneous hired hand.

All Alex and Tamara need to do to begin their new lives together is to pull off this one simple bank robbery and their free. When the robbery unexpectedly goes terribly wrong, Alex finds himself distraught with guilt and anger, leading him to pursue a path of vengeance. A simultaneously occurring story involves police officer Robert (Andreas Lust) and his wife Susanne (Ursula Strauss) who recently miscarried the married couple’s first child. The couple are having a rough go at recovering from their recent trauma and their story gradually becomes intertwined with that of Alex and Tamara’s.

As if the 121-minute running time wasn’t enough to make time itself feel cruel, the film is shot in a washed out palette that features tan and gray as it’s recurring color scheme. There is nothing dynamic in REVANCHE to hold the viewers sleepy eyes, aside from the frequently exposed breasts of actresses Irina Potapenko and Ursula Strauss. Static shots, a straight-forward perspective and a complete lack of cinematic energy, the film does have an essence of realism, but not necessarily the realism that beckons paying movie-watchers to stumble over each other in line to experience. The film is grainy and often just a tad overexposed. There is a lack of concern for things such as lens flares in the film.

I suppose REVANCHE could be considered a more successful film by definition of some social commentary, but the recent trend with some European films to take on this approach has left me cautious in my viewing habits. The movie attempts to suggest some moral philosophy at work on Alex, the film’s focus, but instead merely conveys some basic emotions brought upon by his own actions as he must deal with the consequences. The second half of REVANCHE builds to a climax that never occurs, favoring a more open-ended conclusion.

REVANCHE is not entirely unworthy of praise. Despite the length and slow pace of the film and the largely understated cinematography, the film has a solid, competently written script and the acting is perfectly acceptable. The overall arc and concept of REVANCHE’s story is sound enough and, in all honesty, does pick up a bit at the one hour mark as Alex begins to formulate his revenge. In accordance with the slight change of pace and tone in the second half, the additional attention to lighting and contrast in the second half also helps this hour pass more fluidly than the first. Unfortunately, the tension and emotional power intended in the second half of REVANCHE is never fully realized and falls significantly flat of it’s potential.