Antares (2004)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Götz Spielmann

Writer:

Götz Spielmann (writer)

Release Date:

3 December 2004 (Austria)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Boyfriend Girlfriend Relationship | Photograph | Abusive Husband | Shaving | Singing

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Petra Morzé	...	Eva
Andreas Patton	...	Tomasz
Hary Prinz	...	Alfred
Susanne Wuest	...	Sonja
Dennis Cubic	...	Marco
Andreas Kiendl	...	Alex
Martina Zinner	...	Nicole
Xenia Ferchner	...	Iris
Angelika Nidetzky	...	Eva's Colleague
Johannes Thanheiser	...	Old Man in Hospital (as Hannes Thanheiser)
Silvio Szücs	...	Taxi Driver
Sasica Jovic	...	Cleaning Woman
Melanie Kocsan	...	Iris' Friend
Stefan Stojetz	...	Bellboy
Jay Lee	...	Chambermaid

Runtime:

105 min | Switzerland:119 min | Argentina:119 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) | Hong Kong:115 min | Canada:120 min (Ontario)

Country:

Austria

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Hong Kong:III | Germany:16 | Singapore:R21 (cut) | South Korea:18 | Canada:R (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Argentina:13

Company:

Lotus Film

Soundtrack:

Rendezvouz

authentic !

With little budget (as the Austrian movie "industry" unfortunately has) obviously you have to walk on different shoes than Hollywood. "Antares" shows one possibility for how to do that by digging deeper into live than most other films these days. What is also interesting is that it doesn't make you don't feel the carcass of any narrative concept dominating the rest.

In my point of view very often certain narrative concepts become so much in the thick of things, that characters turn secondary (I don't mean to say I don't like pictures which walk that way). It's refreshing to see movies which succeed not to abstract too much, movies which do not take away too much from their characters because for example various storytelling concepts are requiring it.

With "Antares" for ~115minutes you get insight into various living conditions in Austria before something crucial happens. You see how people act, who they are, what their main problem is. And yes of course there is a clear idea behind this picture, but as I said before this idea is not imposed on the viewers. Solitude and isolation are crucial topics in "Antares". The entanglement of life's is another.

No doubt in a way several directors in this world have dealt with these very human aspects already. Only I haven't seen any other dealing with it in such genuineness like Spielmann - especially I haven't seen any other film from my country which did that ! Fascinating authentic and real characters. Terrific writing and terrific acting. And I have to add I especially enjoy the cynicism in this movie.

In a short: Interesting concept plus genuine characters and great acting add up to an amazing Austrian movie.