Michael Haneke: A Cinema of Provocation
Known to American audiences primarily for his recent French language films like 2005's Caché, Haneke has in fact been steadily making films since the mid-1970s. The German-born, Austrian-raised director debuted in Austrian/German TV where he began to develop his characteristic bleak and disturbing voice. By the time he shifted to cinema in the late 1980s, he had already accumulated an impressive body of feature-length TV dramas. Many of these have now been subtitled, granting American audiences the opportunity to view Haneke's larger body of work for the first time. This series provides a rare look at Haneke's German-language work for both film and TV.
Co-sponsored by the Center for European Studies (CES), and the Department of German Languages and co-presented with the Goethe-Institut (GI) Chicago. This program is organized by Boston University, the Goethe-Institut Boston, and the French Consulate, Boston, and partially supported by the Elysée Treaty for Franco-German Cultural Events in Third Countries. Special thanks to Nicole Crane and Rüdiger van den Boom (GI Chicago), Karin Oehlenschläger (GI Boston), Roy Grundman (Boston University), Jolanda Vanderwal Taylor and Marc Silberman (Department of German), Susan Brantly (Center for European Studies), Ulrike Lässer (Wega Film) and Jessica Rosner (KINO International).
Saturday, January 26, 7:30 p.m.
Funny Games
Austria, 1997, 35mm, color, subtitled, 108 min.
Directed by Michael Haneke
With Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Mühe, Arno Frisch
In this harrowing "German variant of Cape Fear," an upper-middle class family is held hostage by sadistic killers. The audience is implicated in the unfolding violence, even if Haneke leaves most of the bloodshed to our imagination. "You go to it at your own risk." - Stephen Holden, NYT
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Sunday, January 27, 4:00 p.m.
Three Paths to the Lake (Drei Wege zum See)
Austria/West Germany, 1976, DVD, color, subtitled, 97 min.
Directed by Michael Haneke
With Ursula Schult, Guido Wieland, Walter Schmidinger
This work for German TV adapts Ingeborg Bachmann's prose monologue about a successful photographer who faces a moral crisis when she is forced to examine the implications of her own work. A relaxing visit to her hometown turns into a challenging assignment as she attempts to retrace her past life.
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Saturday, February 9, 7:30 p.m.
The Castle (Das Schloß)
Austria, 1997, 35mm, color, subtitled, 125 min.
Directed by Michael Haneke
With Ulrich Mühe, Frank Giering, Felix Eitner
Haneke's ingenious, but faithful, Kafka adaptation stars Ulrich Mühe as land surveyor K. Summoned to a remote mountain, K is unable to convince the residents of his position's legitimacy. The more he struggles to gain entrance to the castle, the more obstructive the village's provincial bureaucracy becomes.
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Sunday, February 10, 4:00 p.m.
Who was Edgar Allan? (Wer war Edgar Allan?)
Austria/West Germany, 1984, DVD, color, subtitled, 83 min.
Directed by Michael Haneke
With Paulus Manker, Rolf Hoppe, Guido Wieland
Made for German TV, this adaptation of Rosei's post-modern thriller views the generational conflict between father and son through the lens of the mystery genre. Despite the aesthetic limitations of the small-screen, Haneke's sophisticated mise-en-scène fully exploits the film's stylish Venice locale.
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Saturday, February 16, 7:30 p.m.
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (71 Fragmente einer Chronologie des Zufalls)
Austria, 1994, 35mm, color, subtitled, 96 min.
Directed by Michael Haneke
With Anne Bennent, Gabriel Cosmin Urdes, Lukas Miko
The third installment of Haneke's "Glaciation Trilogy" is a mosaic of 71 tableaux. The film examines the everyday lives of a group of strangers, and culminates in a tragic series of events on Christmas Eve. Images of the fragments of their existence are juxtaposed to the evening news to form an extraordinary, terrible whole.
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Saturday, February 16, 9:20 p.m.
Benny's Video
Austria/Switzerland, 1992, 35mm, color, subtitled, 105 min.
Directed by Michael Haneke
With Arno Frisch, Angela Winkler, Ulrich Mühe
The centerpiece in Haneke's acclaimed "Glaciation Trilogy" tells the unsettling story of a 14-year old teenage boy who videotapes every aspect of his life. Increasingly desensitized to violent televisual imagery, his impulses become fatal when he brings an unknown girl home. "Bone-chilling" - Stephen Holden, NYT WARNING: This film contains scenes of graphic violence.
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Saturday, March 8, 7:30 p.m.
The Seventh Continent (Der siebente Kontinent)
USA, 1948, 35mm, b/w, 104 min.
Directed by Michael Haneke
With Dieter Berner, Birgit Doll, Leni Tanzer
The first installment in Haneke's "Glaciation Trilogy" is inspired by newspaper reports of real-life tragedies. A middle-class family's meaningless existence slowly unfolds all the way to the film's startling end. "A shocking and potent statement about our times." - Jonathan Rosenbaum, The Chicago Reader
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Sunday, March 9, 4:00 p.m.
Fraulein: A German Melodrama (Fraulein)
Austria/West Germany, 1986, DVD, b/w and color, subtitled, 113 min.
Directed by Michael Haneke
With Angelica Domröse, Peter Franke, Lou Castel
Haneke's answer to Fassbinder's The Marriage of Maria Braun, Fraulein tells the story of a German woman and a former French POW living together in a small town in 1950s Germany. Haneke's heroine remains preoccupied with her personal affairs in this predominantly black and white TV film.
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Sunday, March 30, 4:00 p.m.
The Rebellion (Die Rebellion)
Austria, 1993, DVD, b/w and color, subtitled, 105 min.
Directed by Michael Haneke
With Branko Samarovski, Judith Pogány, Thierry van Werweke
Haneke had already made two films for the big screen when he signed up for this Austrian TV project. The adaptation of Joseph Roth's novel explores the fate of a returning veteran in post-WWI Vienna. After fighting for his homeland, the protagonist now struggles to make a living with a barrel organ.
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