When you think of Austrian films, you probably first think of the Sissi movies or Josef Hader comedies. But Austrian cinema has much more to offer. Besides silent film classics, recent Austrian films are particularly noteworthy. That's why we've put together a list of what we consider to be the best Austrian films. The order is random. Is your favorite classic or modern favorite on the list, or did we overlook something important?
The Shadow Canyon
This Alpine Western by Andreas Prochaska it has a lot to offer: A young American named Greider arrives in a remote mountain village at the end of the 19th century. He says he wants to take photos with his camera here. The villagers are fascinated by the new technology, but the six sons of the village patriarch Brenner react to Greider with hostility.
In the further course of the plot, a series of mysterious deaths And gradually it's revealed that even more terrible things are going on in this village.
The White Ribbon
The best Nazi film, in which does not feature any NazisA village in Northern Germany is shaken by a series of peculiar incidents shortly before the outbreak of World War I: The baron's son is kidnapped and mistreated; a female worker dies in an unexplained industrial accident; and a rope stretched across the road causes the doctor's horse to fall, leaving him seriously injured. What on earth is going on here?
The village teacher wants to solve all these crimes, but the evidence leads nowhere – or so it seems. Director and screenwriter Michael Haneke The film explores the basis for a totalitarian ideology.
3. The Hands of Orlac
A classic of expressionist silent film and a highlight of early Austrian cinema: *Orlac’s Hands*, the story of the celebrated concert pianist Orlac (played by Conrad Veidt), who, following an accident, must undergo a transplant of someone else’s hands. When Orlac learns that these are the hands of a executed murderer acts, he successively loses his mind. In fact, the hands gradually seem to turn against their owner.
The high-contrast scenery and distorted backdrops create a surreal atmosphere that director Robert Wiene uses it to negotiate a fundamental psychological conflict: the one between our moral values and our unconscious drives.
4. The Joyless Alley
Another approach was chosen in 1924 George William Pope. He turned away from Expressionism with its depiction of hidden soul conflicts. In „The Joyless Street,“ he instead dedicates himself to the post-war reality in 1920s Vienna, marked by inflation. The bitter misery in the city's poor district is contrasted by the stock market scams of some wealthy individuals.
With the realistic depictions of Werner Krauss, Asta Nielsen and Greta Garbo the film still has a strong impact today. Director Papst used it to justify the New Objectivity movement.
5. Great Freedom
The most recent film on this list is by the Tyrolean Sebastian Meise and is set in postwar Germany: Until 1969, men caught having gay sex faced a prison sentence recalculate. The law was a relic from the Third Reich, which is why gay concentration camp prisoners were not freed in 1945 but often went directly from the concentration camp to prison.
Hans, played by Franz Rogowski, is one of them. Again and again he is locked up, and there he falls in love with other inmates. His cellmate Viktor makes no secret of his disgust for Hans‘ homosexual inclinations. At first they hate each other, but then develops one of the most unusual friendships ever seen on film.
6. The Bockerer
The Bockerer is based on the play of the same name by Ulrich Becher and Peter Preses. The story tells of Viennese butcher Karl Bockerer during the time of National Socialism. Unlike his family and friends, who are either fascinated by Nazi ideology or try to conform, he does not participate in the Führer cult.
The Bockerer, played with plenty of Viennese charm by the young Karl Merkatz, Starts as an apolitical person, but external circumstances turn him into a resistance fighter. A satirical look at the Nazi era and a classic of Austrian cinema.
7. In the basement
In this documentary by Ulrich Seidl we accompany people in their cellars. This place, which has always stood for the subconscious in cinema, sometimes harbors repressed obsessions and human abysses in reality as well. Austrians know this all too well.
For example, the film focuses on a brass musician who holds regular pub-style gatherings in his basement, decorated with Nazi memorabilia. In another basement, a married couple engages in sadomasochistic sex practices. All real people – no actors. In this film, Ulrich Seidl manages to.
8. Light
Unlike most costume dramas, „Light“ by Barbara Albert through a crystal-clear visual language that doesn't sugarcoat anything. The true story of the piano virtuoso and composer is told. Maria Theresia von Paradis, who lives at the same time as Mozart and is considered a child prodigy just like him – with the difference that Maria Theresia, nicknamed Resi, has been blind since she was three years old.
After numerous failed attempts to cure her blindness, her parents entrust Resi to the controversial faith healer Franz Anton Mesmer. Her condition actually improves, and she slowly begins to see again. At the same time, however, she loses her talent as a pianist, which is why her parents break off the treatment against Resi's will. „Licht“ is about nothing less than the question of the value of a human life.
9. Funny Games
The title of this film should be understood ironically, because what is shown here is not funny at all: A married couple is sadistically tortured and mistreated in their summer house by two young men, both mentally and physically.
Brutal violence is depicted here in an unvarnished way. As a result, director Michael Haneke his criticism of mainstream cinema and its consumable depiction of violent scenes. Real violence, however, as Haneke says, is never consumable. Ultimately, the film is also a reckoning with us viewers, because our desire for entertainment and excitement makes us secret accomplices of the two torturers.
10. Before the Dawn
Josef Hader In this biopic, he plays the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, who fled abroad in 1934 to escape fascism. Unlike most biopics, this film does not cover his entire life, but instead shows only brief glimpses of the writer’s final years, all of which end abruptly.
This gives a good impression of life on the run. The film doesn't try to bring Zweig's literature to the screen, but rather shows a homeless writer in all his grief and inner turmoil, and has therefore earned an absolute permanent spot on our list of the best Austrian films.
