Minds that have become sick from watching so much violent and mindless cinema ask for violence in their film diet. For them «Breathing» is a 'movie' in which there is no drama, nothing happens, and it is slow. But this drama is so dramatic (deliberately redundant) that to make it explicit would be cacophonic.
Roman Kogler (Thomas Schubert) was abandoned by his mother, he is 19 years old and has always lived in a reformatory, where he murdered another boy. He does not understand himself, he is lapidary, others do not like him, and I think he himself does not either; he spends long sessions in the prison pool, forcing apnea time at the bottom of the pool, putting his life in danger, but something, a hunch or perhaps the insistence of his probation counselor impels him to grow, to reach 20 and get out of the prison and his shell.
Roman is so closed to the exterior that, among all the job offers, he opts for a position in the city morgue. And day by day, he goes from one place to another with his work group, discovering what life means to others and the pain of loss, while a girl shows him that he is attractive enough and worthy of trust, a smile and a beer, sharing a pleasant trip from the morgue to the prison; a hard co-worker reveals himself as an alternate father and friend, and above all, one unexpected day something happens to him that will change his life forever, when he discovers that his biological mother has not died.
This multi-level emotional action-reaction plot of situations that reveal dark corners of the human essence was written and directed by Karl Markovics, the celebrated actor in the Oscar-winning film "The Counterfeiter." An outstanding theater, film, and TV actor, in this, his debut feature, Markovics reveals himself as a magnificent delineator of characters with notable psychological strength and richness. He had the valuable contribution of actor Thomas Schubert (who was only 17 years old when filming), in a measured, calculated and therefore surprising performance in the role of Roman; actress Karin Lischka in a composition cared for in detail, as Roman's mother, and Herbert Tucmandl's beautiful music used with measure and precision.
I recommend opening our visors to world cinemas and let the American industry with its Netflix, TV series and superheroes cool down for a while, to see if it generates good films again, as in the 1970-80s. The benefit of enjoying different cinemas is immediately felt as we start a good diet with these productions. Thus, we do not miss works like this and others that emerge in Austria, such as Michael Haneke's films, just to mention its most recognized filmmaker.
«Breathing» won the awards for best film, director, screenwriter, actor (Schubert), film editing and music from the Austrian Film and TV Industry, the prize for best European film at the Cannes film festival, the awards for best film and actor at the Sarajevo film festival, and the Best International Film award at the São Paulo festival, among many other recognitions.
Roman Kogler (Thomas Schubert) was abandoned by his mother, he is 19 years old and has always lived in a reformatory, where he murdered another boy. He does not understand himself, he is lapidary, others do not like him, and I think he himself does not either; he spends long sessions in the prison pool, forcing apnea time at the bottom of the pool, putting his life in danger, but something, a hunch or perhaps the insistence of his probation counselor impels him to grow, to reach 20 and get out of the prison and his shell.
Roman is so closed to the exterior that, among all the job offers, he opts for a position in the city morgue. And day by day, he goes from one place to another with his work group, discovering what life means to others and the pain of loss, while a girl shows him that he is attractive enough and worthy of trust, a smile and a beer, sharing a pleasant trip from the morgue to the prison; a hard co-worker reveals himself as an alternate father and friend, and above all, one unexpected day something happens to him that will change his life forever, when he discovers that his biological mother has not died.
This multi-level emotional action-reaction plot of situations that reveal dark corners of the human essence was written and directed by Karl Markovics, the celebrated actor in the Oscar-winning film "The Counterfeiter." An outstanding theater, film, and TV actor, in this, his debut feature, Markovics reveals himself as a magnificent delineator of characters with notable psychological strength and richness. He had the valuable contribution of actor Thomas Schubert (who was only 17 years old when filming), in a measured, calculated and therefore surprising performance in the role of Roman; actress Karin Lischka in a composition cared for in detail, as Roman's mother, and Herbert Tucmandl's beautiful music used with measure and precision.
I recommend opening our visors to world cinemas and let the American industry with its Netflix, TV series and superheroes cool down for a while, to see if it generates good films again, as in the 1970-80s. The benefit of enjoying different cinemas is immediately felt as we start a good diet with these productions. Thus, we do not miss works like this and others that emerge in Austria, such as Michael Haneke's films, just to mention its most recognized filmmaker.
«Breathing» won the awards for best film, director, screenwriter, actor (Schubert), film editing and music from the Austrian Film and TV Industry, the prize for best European film at the Cannes film festival, the awards for best film and actor at the Sarajevo film festival, and the Best International Film award at the São Paulo festival, among many other recognitions.