South Pole (2019)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | South Pole |
| Country of production | Austria |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2019 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Nikolaus Leytner |
| script | Nikolaus Leytner |
| production | Helmut Grasser |
| music | Matthias Weber |
| camera | Hermann Dunzendorfer |
| cut | Bettina Mazakarini |
| occupation | |
| |
Südpol is an Austrian TV film from 2019 by Nikolaus Leytner with Juergen Maurer and Lili Epply in the leading roles. The script is based on an idea by Götz Spielmann and Nikolaus Leytner. The first broadcast on ORF took place on December 8, 2019. In the first , the film was shown on March 11, 2020 as part of FilmWednesday .
action
The South Pole is a restaurant in the Bohemian Prater in Vienna . The pregnant Ella, a marine biology student last semester, works there as a waitress and is taken hostage by an armed perpetrator. However, he does not make any demands. Mario, Ella's friend, tries to find her in the South Pole. On the way there, the emergency services block his way. Police officers find a digital camera in front of the restaurant, on which there are also photos of Ella. The hostage taker had lost the camera. After a shot is fired in the pub, the hostage taker appears in the doorway. However, Ella pulls him back into the bar, so she should have already known the hostage-taker.
Three weeks before the hostage-taking: Hans Wallentin is a 50-year-old family man who actually had everything he always wanted. Until, after almost 20 years, he lost his job in middle management, a fact that he tried to hide from his wife Sandra. However, some time later, she accidentally finds the letter of resignation and confronts him. But Hans doesn't talk to her, he packs his bags and moves into the hotel. Soon after, he makes his way to the lawyer to file for divorce. He would like to forego everything: the savings, the car, the boat, the common house on the Viennese bacon belt and custody of their son.
Looking for a solution to his life crisis, Wallentin meets Ella in the South Pole . With her charm and her carefree attitude she awakens new spirits in him. Hans comes to the South Pole every day and seeks Ella's closeness there; these encounters forced by Hans sometimes result in very personal conversations. When Ella doesn’t have the time or inclination to do this, he threatens her with a gun, takes her hostage and holed up with her in the pub. He does not set any conditions and refuses to speak to the police. After Hans wants to leave the bar with the gun, Ella pulls him back because she fears that the police will shoot him. After long conversations with Ella, Hans finally surrenders and is arrested by the police.
production
The shooting took place from January 14th to February 11th, 2019, the shooting took place in Vienna and the surrounding area. The main location was the Bohemian Prater .
The film was produced by Allegro Film , with Austrian and Bavarian broadcasters involved . Caterina Czepek was responsible for the costume design, Maria Gruber for the equipment, Max Vornehm for the tone and Susanne Weichesmiller and Michaela Sommer for the make-up.
reception
Wilfried Geldner found in the Weser Kurier that Juergen Maurer was turning the manager, whose feet had been stripped from under his feet, into a character piece with reduced play that one would not soon forget.
Volker Bergmeister wrote on tittelbach.tv that Nikolaus Leytner had succeeded in creating a surprising, exciting and profound story about life with the drama Südpol . How Leytner builds up this story and tells it, how he changes perspective, cleverly merging the past and present, that is great cinematic art. Juergen Maurer and Lili Epply would make the film absolutely worth seeing with their intense, nuanced play.
Hans Hoff , on the other hand, said in the Süddeutsche Zeitung that Nikolaus Leytner had his two protagonists say melancholy sentences. That seems wooden. “The two of them have to sneak around all the time, but what exactly they are doing is difficult to see, also because the filmmakers have saved on the use of light. All of this leads to the fact that in the end both fates do not matter, it does not matter how the hostage situation ends, how the film ends. The main thing is that it's over. "
Tilmann P. Gangloff described the film in the Frankfurter Rundschau as a “cleverly constructed drama”. As in Half a Life (2009) and The Extinction (2013), Leytner has established an unusually close proximity to his main characters, embodied by outstanding actors. In the most haunting scenes, Maurer manages completely without dialogue because his looks said more than a thousand words. Cameraman Hermann Dunzendorfer makes Wallentin, who is often only vaguely recognizable, in the twilight of the pub, seem like a sinister figure of revenge. Just as remarkable is the performance of Lili Epply, who thanks to the dark make-up looks just as gloomy as Maurer.
Claudia Irle-Utsch wrote in the Siegener Zeitung that the film deserves three exclamation marks. “Because of the story itself, because of the skilful montage from time and perspective levels, because of the representational power of everyone involved. That was film art that relies on the power of images [...], on the effect of good music [...] and on a dramaturgical arc that plays with expectations right up to the end. "
Web links
- South Pole in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- South Pole at crew united
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b “Südpol”: ORF premiere for ORF / BR drama with Juergen Maurer and Lili Epply. In: ORF.at . Accessed December 1, 2019 .
- ^ FilmWednesday in the First: Nikolaus Leytner directs the thriller drama "Südpol". In: br.de. February 14, 2019, accessed December 1, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Wilfried Geldner: Lost Souls in a Prater pub. In: Weser Courier . February 25, 2020, accessed February 25, 2020 .
- ↑ South Pole at crew united . Accessed December 1, 2019.
- ↑ Shooting for ORF / BR drama “Südpol” with Juergen Maurer and Lili Epply. In: ORF.at . Accessed December 1, 2019 .
- ^ Allegrofilm: South Pole . Retrieved December 3, 2019.
- ↑ Volker Bergmeister : TV film "Südpol". In: tittelbach.tv . Retrieved March 9, 2020 .
- ↑ Hans Hoff : ARD film "Südpol": Off the train. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . March 9, 2020, accessed March 9, 2020 .
- ↑ Tilmann P. Gangloff : "Südpol", ARD: ... and didn't say a single word. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . March 10, 2020, accessed March 10, 2020 .
- ↑ Claudia Irle-Utsch: TV review: Südpol "(Das Erste): Three exclamation marks. In: siegener-zeitung.de. March 11, 2020, accessed on March 12, 2020 .