Two strangers knock on a door of a faraway vacation cabin and kindly ask for eggs. They soon take the family hostage. The intruders start a gory play of violence and cruelty. The controversial film bares the manipulative nature of violence and raises a question whether a passive viewers’ eye, keen on voyeurism, is capable of recognizing it.
About the film
Details
- Running time
- 1 hr. 48 min.
- Country, year
- Austria, 1997
- Genre
- Drama, Thriller
- Language
- German, French, Italian
- Subtitles
- Lithuanian
- Age rating
- N-16
Credits
- Director
- Michael Heneke
- Screenplay
- Michael Haneke
- Producers
- Veit Heiduschka
- Cinematography
- Jürgen Jürges
- Cast
- Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Mühe, Arno Frisch, Frank Giering
- More information
- www.imdb.com
Festivals and awards
- Ghent International Film Festival
Director
Michael Heneke
Michael Haneke studied philosophy, psychology, and theatre science in Vienna. In 1967-1970 he worked for German television. He shot the trilogy “The Seventh Continent” (1989), “Benny’s Video” (1992), and “71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance” (1994), in which he presents alienated individuals through an image of their frustrations. When Haneke made his debut film, “The Seventh Continent”, he was already forty-seven. That is exactly why even his very first films demonstrate creative maturity and a unique cinematic language, which made him one of the today’s most outstanding cinema artists.
His films “The White Ribbon” and “Love” won Palme d‘Or in Cannes Film Festival, while “Love” has also won an “Oscar” as the Best Foreign Language Film.
