Silentium (2004)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Wolfgang Murnberger

Writers:

Wolf Haas (novel)
Wolf Haas (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 September 2004 (Austria)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Plot:

A man who accused a catholic bishop of abusing him when he was a child dies in the Austrian city Salzburg. Everyone except his widow and the eccentrical detective Simon Brenner keeps silent and believes that the man killed himself. |

Plot Keywords:

Austrian | Widow | Pervert | Filipina | Narrator

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Josef Hader	...	Simon Brenner
Simon Schwarz	...	Berti
Joachim Król	...	Sportpräfekt Fitz
Maria Köstlinger	...	Konstanze Dornhelm
Udo Samel	...	Festspielpräsident
Jürgen Tarrach	...	Opernsänger Schmittke
Rosie Alvarez	...	Di Ding
Georg Friedrich	...	Hausmeister Josef
Anne Bennent	...	Apothekerin
Luka Omoto	...	Jungfrau
Johannes Silberschneider	...	Inspektor Stronegger
Joachim Bissmeier	...	Regens
Karl Fischer	...	Killer Max
Wolfgang S. Zechmayer	...	Killer Moritz
Christoph Schlingensief	...	Opernregisseur

Runtime:

110 min | Germany:116 min

Country:

Austria

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | Austria:18 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Salzburg, Austria

Company:

Dor Film Produktionsgesellschaft

Trivia:

In one scene Brenner puts some empty beer boxes in piles to escape a cellar. Stiegl-beer is produced in Salzburg, where the movie is set, and its company logo are red stairs, which look just like the stairs Brenner builds out of the boxes.

Goofs:

Continuity: While the story is set in the summer, in the last scene, when the car leaves Salzburg, some snow can be seen on the roofs of the houses surrounding the road.

Movie Connections:

References North by Northwest (1959)

Splendid black comedy

I really like Austrian humor. Many Austrian comedians display a certain kind of self irony modern German comedians seem to be incapable of. Georg Hader is one of the best Austrian comedians out there, and his movies are unfortunately hardly famous in Germany, which is a real pity.

Hader mixture of black humor, self irony and the wonderful accent provide splendid entertainment. in "Silentium", he targets the catholic church and the high society of the beautiful city of Salzburg.

While Salzburg is a beautiful panorama for this movie, the most important thing about this film are the characters, who - far from being heroes - try to solve a murder mystery with nothing else but courage and surprising integrity - considering they hardly manage to keep their own lives straight.

A wonderful example of Austrian comedy. Highly recommendable!