Breathing

This is yet another brilliant Austrian film. It is the directing debut of the well-known Austrian actor Karl Markovics and it is a stunning first film. Perhaps the main reason for this is the acting of Thomas Schubert in the main role. Seldom has a young guy so quietly taken over the big screen and he lives and breathes his character so thoroughly that it's almost hard to believe you are watching a movie and not a documentary. All the supporting actors are likewise presented in a very realistic mode. It is filmed under overcast skies (yes, Vienna has many days of sunshine but not in this film.) When the film quietly ends in a pan-out of another overcast sky, you realize how touched you are by Roman (Thomas Schubert) the main character who's trying to find a path he can travel on through life. Thumbs up!!

This is a movie about guilt, dreams, redemption and ultimately hope. You won't like 18 year old Roman Kogler at first. He is sullen, uncommunicative, and in prison. Nobody else seems to like him either. He doesn't like himself. Beset by inner demons, he has committed some unspeakable crime. His only ally is the probation officer who is helping him to find a job that will convince a parole board that Roman is worthy to be released back into the community. Through the course of the movie we learn that he is a boy who has been dealt a bad hand in life. Brought up in care, he has been a lost soul who made a tragic mistake that caused him to spend his teenage years in detention. A job in the city morgue proves to be the turning point in the movie, and in his life. This job is the symbol of his eventual redemption. As his prison peers turn away from him in disgust at his choice of job, his equally wary co-workers, initially sceptical at having a convicted criminal in their midst, soon become accepting of the boy, and eventually encourage him to develop in his new role. A stroke of fate during a call-out one day, leads Roman down a path of self-discovery, which will help him to understand why he became the person he now is, and allows the audience to explore the damaged relationship, which needs to be repaired before the boy can address his inner demons and move on with his life. This is stark, often graphic, but never dull. You will end up liking Roman. As he understands what has brought him to this point in his life, he begins to like himself more. He exhibits an inner strength and confidence that belies his young years. You can be sure he will make a success of himself, in spite of the bad start that life offered him.

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.

Atmen is set in Austria and features a young man who has spent four years in juvenile detention and is breaking into the real world of work. The story is sad but also offers hope. The ending is a big surprise. Why did the young man end up where he was? You won't know unless you watch the whole film, which is beautifully shot and well acted.

Austria has been hitting aces with films like THE COUNTERFEITERS and REVANCHE and again with BREATHING, the country proves it has got what it takes to be considered amongst quality film making countries.

The film is small and poignant driven by a brave, bold and haunting performance by Thomas Schubert. The boy delves deep into the character and comes up with a nuance and sincerely enriched performance stating that he clearly lived every second of the film and literally felt the character making him able to wear the character over himself like a costume.

The supporting cast was adequate and served their purpose decently.

Karl Markovics is a known actor who inspired me with his acting skills in THE COUNTERFEITERS but here he comes up with an even better film and inspires with his directing and writing skills. The scenes were meticulously crafted, the feelings of the reclusive lead character were so rich that one watching the film can easily feel the mental pain and torture that he goes through.

The scenes i like best were when the Schubert releases the trapped bird, it carefully tells how his character has evolved into someone less brutal and caring person.

The score by Herbert Tucmandl and cinematography by Martin Gschlacht was cool and provided with the accurate mood of the film; dense, low but yet beautiful.

This movie might not be appealing to everyone but the lovers of art-drama films will surely cherish this small gem from Austria.