The miracle exercise (film)

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Movie
Original title The miracle exercise
Country of production Austria
original language German
Publishing year 2018
Rod
Director Michael Kreihsl
script Michael Kreihsl based on the comedy of the same name by Daniel Glattauer
production Helmut Grasser
camera Wolfgang Thaler
cut Ulli Kofler
occupation

The Wonder Exercise is an Austrian feature film from 2018 by Michael Kreihsl with Erwin Steinhauer , Aglaia Szyszkowitz and Devid Striesow . The script is based on the 2014 comedy of the same name by Daniel Glattauer , which premiered as a play in 2015. The premiere took place on January 30, 2018 in Vienna. The film was released in Austria on February 2, 2018. In Germany, the film was released on June 28, 2018.

action

The married couple Joana and Valentin Dorek are in a crisis. They are representatives of the bourgeois middle class , she is a historian, he is a technical director in the aircraft industry. They have two children together. They met 17 years ago on a diving vacation.

Due to constant mutual accusations, unresolved grievances and unresolved issues of conflict, which regularly end in loud disputes, they seek out a couples therapist for an initial consultation, where they should first describe their expectations of the session. As further exercises, the therapist lets them list the positive characteristics of the other partner, list positive memories and perform a role reversal, where they slip into the role of the other, symbolically represented by a hand puppet . In the so-called "fist exercise", Valentin should achieve the opening of Joana's fist, symbolic of her heart "locked in rage, anger and sadness". Joana should only open her fist when she feels ready. Valentin tries violence and fails. While talking about their meeting, the diving vacation and the memories of it, the two thaw a little again. However, the situation quickly reversed and after a loud argument the therapist interrupted the session.

After a pause, the argument continues. The therapist then asks the two of them why they don't break up when the relationship obviously doesn't seem to be working. The two are very surprised and horrified about this, a separation is absolutely out of the question for the two of them. When Joana asked what was wrong with the therapist, that he asked such a question, the therapist confessed that his wife Annika had left him. She sent him an email during the break informing him of the breakup.

Joana tries to find out the reason for the separation. The therapist leaves the room because he has to make a phone call. At the request of Joana, the therapist reads the mail to his wife when Joana returns to the room, and he bursts into tears. Joana then reads the rest of the mail, in which the therapist's wife writes that because of his constant understanding and harmony, she lacks friction with him, and without friction there would be no warmth. Joana then realizes that friction is essential in a relationship and that she would rather burn up than freeze to death. The therapist then says that Joana and Valentin do not have a love relationship, but a fighting relationship.

20 minutes before the end of the session, the therapist ends it and explains that he cannot help either of them. For Joana, that's out of the question. The therapist explains that he is tired of the ongoing relationship conflicts and wants to give up his job. The Doreks try to convince him that he is a very good therapist and that he shouldn't just give up everything. Valentin works up his own session analytically. When the therapist's cell phone rings and his wife calls, the therapist does not take the call. Joana tells him to call his wife back for the remaining ten minutes of the session. Valentin is of the opinion that the therapist should take an example from the Dorek couple.

Valentin and Joana team up against the therapist, who accuses them, among other things, of failing the fist exercise. Another exercise follows, in which the arms of the two doreks must keep moving and the fingertips of the forefingers of the two must constantly touch, but they must not talk to each other. After a first failed attempt, they are successful in a second attempt. The therapist closes the session. Valentin explains that he has the impulse to open Joana's fist now. After gentle touches and a tickle, Joana finally opens her fist. The Doreks leave the session relaxed and cheerful.

After the session, the therapist calls his wife back and advises her that he does not wish to be interrupted by phone during a session. He tells her that he used a paradoxical intervention and that he is confident that the Doreks will find each other again.

Production and Background

The shooting took place in the summer of 2017 and the shooting took place in Vienna . The film was supported by the Austrian Film Institute and the Vienna Film Fund , and the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation was involved . The film was produced by Allegro Film . Sergey Martynyuk was responsible for the sound, Theresa Ebner-Lazek for the costume design, Katrin Huber and Gerhard Dohr for the production and Jenny Popova for the mask.

The comedy, published in 2014 by Daniel Glattauer , was also staged as a play by Michael Kreihsl ; the world premiere took place in January 2015 at the Wiener Kammerspiele of the theater in der Josefstadt . In the theater, the marriage counselor of Jürgen Tarrach and Valentin Dorek were played by Bernhard Schir , the role of his wife Joana played as in the film Aglaia Szyszkowitz .

reception

Barbara Petsch wrote in the daily newspaper Die Presse that Michael Kreihsl's film would be far more convincing than his theater production. She praised the three actors and wrote: "It is always amazing how you can turn a good play into an even better film, and the same director was at work here with Kreihsl."

The Tiroler Tageszeitung stated: “Michael Kreihsl takes the pace of the screwball comedy for the cinema . But only Erwin Steinhauer can develop comedy. "

DerStandard.at said that with Wolfgang Thaler , Kreihsl had one of the best local cameramen at his side, he would freshen up the three-person event a bit in Western style. You are permanently in duel mode, the widescreen images emphasize the distance between the married couple. In the second half the film would take a turn “that is not quite as unexpected as it probably appeared to the author. [...] The best boulevard , and play and film belong to this genre, also harbors a moment of madness, the possibility of breaking open etiquette and conventions. Unfortunately, this strange miracle does not happen. "

Awards and nominations

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ orf.at: Glattauer's miracle exercise: cinema premiere . Article from January 30, 2018, accessed on January 30, 2018.
  2. ↑ a b Austrian Film Institute. Retrieved January 3, 2018 .
  3. ↑ filmstarts.de: The miracle exercise . Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  4. ^ Vienna Film Fund: The miracle exercise . Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  5. ↑ Allegro Film: The Miracle Exercise . Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  6. ^ Theater in der Josefstadt: The miracle exercise . Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  7. ↑ diepresse.com: "The miracle exercise": Steinhauer, a coach to fall in love with . Article from January 30, 2018, accessed on January 31, 2018.
  8. ↑ Tiroler Tageszeitung: "The miracle exercise": Scenes from a broken marriage . Article from January 31, 2018, accessed March 5, 2020.
  9. ↑ derStandard.at: "The miracle exercise": Without tact . Article dated February 1, 2018, accessed February 2, 2018.
  10. ↑ Internationales Filmfest Emden-Norderney: The miracle exercise . Retrieved June 7, 2018.