Play the game!
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Play the game! |
| Country of production | Austria |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2015 |
| length | 30 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jörg Helbig |
| script | Jörg Helbig |
| production | Jörg Helbig |
| music | Werner Delanoy |
| camera | Isabella Preuer |
| cut | Jörg Helbig Thomas Faller |
| occupation | |
| |
Play the game! is an Austrian mystery thriller from 2015 that emerged from a project at the University of Klagenfurt and deals with a game that involves killing people. The script for the film was written by Jörg Helbig, who also directed. With elements from film noir and psychological thriller , it is a multi-layered short film . The premiere took place on June 16, 2015 at the University of Klagenfurt.
action
The film begins in a supermarket in Klagenfurt . One of the main characters , Adam, stands in front of a shelf and is spoken to by the elegantly dressed Isabel. She hands Adam a red envelope that says “PLAY THE GAME - OR SOMEONE WILL DIE” (German: play the game or someone will die). Thus begins a series of mysterious events. Adam follows Isabel and can write down her license plate number. He then goes into a pub and is bumped into by a man who apologizes to him.
The man crosses the street and hands Isabel, who is already waiting for him there, Adam's wallet that he stole from him. She makes her way to Adam's apartment while Adam takes a seat at the bar and talks to the waitress Ruby about what she has just experienced. Ruby reads the slip of paper from the red envelope, asks Adam a few questions about the woman and advises him to go to the police. Adam ignores this, however, and immediately receives the next piece of advice. He is supposed to call his Italian ex-girlfriend Fabiana, because Isabel's license plate was from Italy and she is a police officer in Udine . Adam is also negative to this suggestion because he has not called his ex-girlfriend for a long time. When Adam leaves the pub, he notices that his wallet is missing.
Meanwhile, Isabel breaks into Adam's apartment and sets up a surveillance camera on a bookshelf. When Adam unexpectedly enters the apartment, he finds his wallet; Isabel can hide on the balcony in time and then disappear from the apartment while Adam is in the bathroom.
After his shower, Adam calls his ex-girlfriend Fabiana and wants to use her access to the police database to find the owner of the number plate. At first, Fabiana is perplexed and upset because Adam called only because of that, but finally agrees. Isabel is watching the call on camera and is very upset at the fact that Adam called the police. She writes another message with the content “Calling the cops is against the rules. Meet me tonight 10pm, Hotel Moser Verdino, room 318 “(German: It is forbidden to call the police. Tonight, 10pm, Hotel Moser Verdino, room 318).
After a while, Fabiana calls back and reports that the car belongs to a person who died two weeks ago and the car has been reported stolen. During the conversation, Adam rearranges the chess pieces on the table that he knocked over after his shower. When Fabiana is on the phone, she is distracted by a colleague and the love affair between the two police officers becomes clear.
When Adam leaves the apartment to have a drink at Ruby's, Isabel prepares to break into the apartment again to get the camera. Adam makes a move on the chessboard before leaving. Isabel counters this when she is back in the apartment, and also leaves the message she wrote earlier.
In Ruby's Pub, Adam and the owner play pool and Adam gives her the new information. He adds that if he finds Isabel, he'll ask her about the rules of the game.
Meanwhile, Isabel is back in the hotel room and digs out a box with a revolver in it. She makes sure the gun is loaded and takes a shower. In this scene it also becomes clear that her black hair was just a wig and that she is actually blonde.
At the same time, Fabiana worries about Adam in her office at the police station and therefore drives immediately from Udine to Klagenfurt to Adam's apartment. Once there, she gains access with a key that Adam gave her when they were still a couple. She finds Isabel's message and anxiously hurries to the specified meeting point. A short time later Adam also finds the news and rushes to the hotel. Once in the room, he finds Fabiana covered in blood and hears the door slam. However, he hadn't noticed that he was being followed by the man who stole his wallet.
Another day, Isabel enters the supermarket from the beginning again, this time handing Ruby an envelope. It becomes clear that the two women know each other when they both address each other by first name. This time the envelope reads “PLAY THE GAME - OR YOU WILL DIE!” (German: play the game or you will die!)
interpretation
The film leaves the audience with various unanswered questions, such as who shot Fabiana or how the "game" actually works. The facts of why Adam was chosen or how Ruby and Isabel know each other also remain unclear. One key to interpreting the film is the colors and what they stand for. The dominant colors are red and black and these also determine the relationships between the three female characters. They also connect women with the various games in the film (chess, pool, poker, solitaire).
Sequels
Who killed Fabiana? Play the Game, part 1.5 was released in January 2016. The director was again Jörg Helbig, who also wrote the script and worked as a producer. The running time of this film is 39 minutes. It is a fictional documentary that combines a discussion of the first film with around 40 interviews. The entire cast of the first part can be found among the interviewees. Some scenes in the sequel continue the plot and the viewer learns that Isabel is an internationally sought-after contract killer who fled to Berlin after the events in Klagenfurt . There she meets with Fabiana's lover and it is implied that the two are working together.
The last part of the trilogy, Endgame , will be produced in spring 2016 and will again be directed by Jörg Helbig, who also wrote the script and supports the project as a producer.