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Kurzer Prozess
Austria/West Germany 1969
produced by Claus Hardt for Unabhängige Filmproduktion, Gloria Film
directed by Michael Kehlmann
starring Helmut Qualtinger, Alexander Kerst, Gudrun Thielemann, Kurt Sowinetz, Bruni Löbel, Otto Tausig, Walter Breuer, Walter Weisshappel, Gustl Kalenberg, Willy Harlander, Hertha Martin, Walter Kohut, Hilde Berndt, Fritz Eckhardt, Franz Stoss, Max Strassberg, Elisabeth Orth, Georg Lhotzky, Kurt Radlecker, Hans Stadtmüller, Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel, Kurt Zips, Edwin Noel, Guido Wieland, Willy Anders, Peter Brand, Helmut Fischer
screenplay by Michael Kehlmann, Carl Mertz, based on the novel Investigations are Proceeding by Jeffrey Ashford, music by Rolf A.Wilhelm
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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A small village in Upper Austria: Since Inspector Pokorny (Helmut
Qualtinger) had to testify against his best friend and colleague Janisch
(Willy Harlander) after he was accused of robbing a post office, he feels
miserable - which before long affects his work. However, eventually he
gets leads on several crimes in the neighbourhoos - the disappearance of a
rich industrialist, the theft of a police uniform, a bank robbery from a
few years back in Switzerland and the like - that against all odds all
seem to have to do with each other ... but then the industrialist turns up
dead but from natural causes, which seems to ruin all of Pokorny's
theories - until he shows some true professionalism, ties all these cases
up in a new way and ties them to the dead industrialists former servants,
two Viennese criminals ... and against all odds, the whole case doesn't
only make sense, it also clears Janisch of any suspicion, he has merely
been the scapegoat for the real robbers, who needed the mail robbery only
to obscure the traces that led to the Swiss bank robbery - and finally it
seems that Pokorny single-handedly cleared the region of all crime ...
until the next one that is.
I have to admit, the plot of this murder mystery is grossly
over-convoluted - and I have even left out all the subplots of the film
(and there are quite a few). That said, the script to the film is still
brilliantly written, and though one often has the feeling of not knowing
what's really going on (arguably something the director and screenwriter
actually intended), the film remains suspenseful and exciting throughout.
But the real driving force behind this film is no doubt Helmut Qualtinger,
its brilliant lead, turning in an intentionally repulsive yet symathetic
performance of an alcoholic and overweight cop on the brink of a nervous
breakdown - and he succeeds in making this character into someone you
actually care for.
Recommendation !
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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