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FILMS Austria

The Fatherless don’t get along

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After premiering in the Panorama section of the Berlinale, the feature debut of Austrian writer-director Marie Kreutz, The Fatherless [+see also:
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, swept the Diagonale festival, where it won Best Film, Best Actor (Johannes Krisch), Best Actress (Marion Mitterhammer) and Best Cinematography (Leena Koppe). Although far from convincing and without an actual point – except for some prosaic observations on interpersonal relations – this dysfunctional family drama seems tailor-made for awards (at least in German-speaking territories), with always topical subject matter, strong performances and excellent cinematography.

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Hans (Krisch) is dying and he wants to see his children. He and wife Anna (Mitterhammer) live in a dilapidated country house, and the first to arrive is Niki (Philipp Hochmair), now a doctor in Munich in his 30s. Niki is the only one who gets the chance to talk to his father as Hans dies a couple of minutes later, having revealed his bitterness at life to his son. Neurologically defected daughter Mizzi (Emily Cox), idealistic son Vito (Andreas Kiendl), and estranged daughter Kyra (Andrea Wenzl) arrive thereafter.

Flashbacks tell us this family is not merely dysfunctional, but is far from ordinary: the children are offspring of a hippie commune established in the house in the 1980s. Hans was clearly the pater familias of the commune, and not all his kids come from Anna’s womb, one of them is not even a product of his loins. Problems and misunderstandings of the past and present unravel through many conflicts, so it seems that neither the commune nor subsequent life brought happiness to any of the protagonists, as all their relationships are flawed and sour.

Co-produced by Novotny & Novotny and Witcraft Szenario, The Fatherless opens in Austria on April 8 through ThimFilm.

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