Struggle is an Austrian film. But the title is not a translation, it's the original title. Why does this film have an English title? Nobody knows. Maybe it is to give the film a more exciting, stylish touch, and maybe this is also the reason for the strange, highly inadequate choice of songs: "Just the Two of Us`, "Everybody Talkin` and one or two other classic oldies form the complete soundtrack. The rest is silence.
The director of this film wants to communicate social criticism, at all costs. Thus, she tells the story of a Polish mother who is exploited as a cheap worker in Austria, and an Austrian realtor, who fits the typical cliché of a stubborn, sexually frustrated and ugly midlife man, well known from several Viennese comedies and dramas. The two characters have nothing in common (only that they finally come together), so the whole concept doesn't seem to make any sense.
The first part is almost documentary style and has no dialogues, which makes it utterly boring (although I have to admit that it is filmed and acted quite well). The second part is disgusting, which it is supposed to be, but neither believable (and therefore not particularly "critical`) nor funny, although there are some ridiculous lines.
At the 2003 Cannes festival, Struggle received "Une certain regard`. As regards the rest of the world, I don't think it deserves any special attention there.
The director of this film wants to communicate social criticism, at all costs. Thus, she tells the story of a Polish mother who is exploited as a cheap worker in Austria, and an Austrian realtor, who fits the typical cliché of a stubborn, sexually frustrated and ugly midlife man, well known from several Viennese comedies and dramas. The two characters have nothing in common (only that they finally come together), so the whole concept doesn't seem to make any sense.
The first part is almost documentary style and has no dialogues, which makes it utterly boring (although I have to admit that it is filmed and acted quite well). The second part is disgusting, which it is supposed to be, but neither believable (and therefore not particularly "critical`) nor funny, although there are some ridiculous lines.
At the 2003 Cannes festival, Struggle received "Une certain regard`. As regards the rest of the world, I don't think it deserves any special attention there.