 |
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
|
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
 |
|
Four stories set in the impoverished post-war Vienna:
- Anni (Elisabeth Stemberger) works in a brick factory and is in love
with the factory's owner's son Fritz - much to the dismay of her mother,
who eventually turns to Anni's father and persuades him to kill Fritz.
Why ?
Because Anni's mother was long ago raped by Fritz' father but couldn't
go to the authorities because she was working at his factory ... and the
child of this rape was Anni.
Ultimately, Anni's father and Fritz kill each other, her mother gets
what she wanted, but Anni, ignorant that Fritz was her half-brother, is
left heart-broken.
- Introverted Helene (Edith Prager) runs a Punch-and-Judy show and is
in love with Walter (Karlheinz Böhm), the show's musician. But then the
show gets a new puppeteer, Edith, an attractive and out-going woman who
has no problems to make Walter her lover in no time. Upon learning that,
Helene retreats to her world of puppets, and to a state that borders
insanity.
- Nude model Gabriele's (Helmi Mareich) lover Hans was arrested for
killing a woman, but Gabriele knows he didn't do it ... and before long,
she stumbles upon some evidence that points into the direction of sleazy
Paul, and she pays him a visit and question him ... not such a good idea
as it turns out, because on one hand, he admits to the murder, on the
other he seems to show little hesitation to kill Gabriele too, and only
when Hans - who has since escaped the police - intervenes can Paul be kept
from murdering her. The story culminates in a chase over some railway
tracks which is ended when Paul's foot is caught in one of the tracks and
run over by a train.
- Olga (Margit Herzog) is a prostitute who is in love with Carlo, the
captain of a small boat on the Danube ... much to the dismay of her pimp
Anton, who thinks love is ruining her business and tries to keep her from
seeing Carlo any which way he can. However, she manages to sneak away on
her free day and have a romantic afternoon with Carlo, at the end of which
they rent a hotel-room to you-know-what - but Anton is always close behind
and knows exactly what they are doing, and that Olga is supposed to leave
him for good with Carlo that evening ... so he takes her to an abandoned
fatctory and keeps her hanging on the line in one of the buildings
airshafts where she ahs no way of escaping, just to make sure she can't
leave with Carlo tonight ... but Carlo's dog has picked up her trail, and
ultimately Carlo saves Olga while his dog takes care of Anton ...
A tense drama in the style of Italian neorealismo, that shows
the underbelly of Vienna and at the same time gives a rather authentic
portrayal of post-war Austria. Unfortunately, the film was not
well-received at the box office and was soon forgotten until its
rediscovery in 1989, when it was re-released to rave reviews. The failure
of this film also meant that director Kurt Steinwendner - a painter and
sculptor whose first feature film this was - only made a handful more
films during his career, which deprived Austria of possibly its greatest
director of the post-war era - and Austria is not a country big on great
directors to begin with ...
Recommendation.
|
amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
eThaiCD.com
find Wienerinnen at adultvideouniverse.com
