We immediately take a liking to the little Romanian thief Marian Radu (Gabriel Cosmin Urdes). The stolen guns suggest that violence is on the way, a familiar narrative device for building suspense. We quickly pick out the main characters and decide which ones to be concerned about. Griffith back in 1916's Intolerance.ĭespite its experimental scene transitions, 71 Fragments functions like a conventional drama. The style isn't as radical as it looks, for the fragmented pattern is just a different way of inter-cutting a number of seemingly unrelated scenes, a practice initiated by D.W. Some individual fragments tell us essential information while some have much less importance to the narrative line. They're separated by brief bits of black screen and cut abruptly on and off without apparent regard to what's happening on screen dialogue lines are sometimes truncated and TV news reports seem chaotic. The fragmented scenes range in length from a few seconds to a few minutes and are clearly meant to suggest a feeling of random selection. A soldier steals handguns from a military armory and peddles them in coffeehouses. A bank clerk makes it difficult for her father to see his granddaughter. A student is frustrated by his dorm-mates and their betting games. A childless couple is moved when they see the boy interviewed on television. A Romanian boy slips into the country and tries to live in malls and subway stations, stealing as he goes. Foster parents have a difficult time with a young girl who remains withdrawn and uncommunicative. TV news clips show fighting and atrocities in the former Yugoslavia, and Michael Jackson accused of child molestation in California. To its credit, the film's scattered parts add up to more than a cynical exercise in style.Īustria, 1994. These fragments eventually dovetail into a stylish but pessimistic conclusion. We've seen all this before, but Michael Haneke's innovative vision presents a narrative broken up into 71 fragments, little scenes or static shots that move between various mini-dramas. Haneke singles out television as the key destructive influence, an evil eye pouring fragments of despair and disillusion into our lives. Kids go astray for lack of values or behave as if they wish they'd never been born. People don't communicate with their fellow men and families are dysfunctional. Michael Haneke's 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance has a theme common to many Art Films - modern life is a wasteland of alienation. Produced by Veit Heiduschka, Willi Segler Starring Gabriel Cosmin Urdes, Lukas Miko, Otto Grünmandl, Anne Bennent, Udo Samel, Branko Samarovski 71 Fragmente einer Chronologie des Zufalls / Street Date / 29.95
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |