Der Atem des Himmels

Famous for his 80's-Pop-Music-Hit "Video Life", I went to cinema to see, what kind of "Life" the director and former Popstar Reinhold Bilgeri can bring into a professional "Video".

I'm not a fan of his music, but what I've seen was a surprise, because never before, in the province Vorarlberg - the most western part of Austria, such a professional movie was produced from a local director. Great camera-work, high-quality-editing and a likable cast gave me (the little bit too long) impression of the happenings around the avalanche-disaster in Blons.

If you overlook some weakening in the script, the combination of professional and talented amateur actors works for 2 hours of solid entertainment with one of the best and little bit "cheesy" product-placement ever.

I'm sure, he will not get world-famous for his first big movie and directly occupy a seat next to Coppola or Scorsese, but if there will be a cold winter night, and you cannot walk out because of two meters snow, you are bored to see the Godfather, Indiana Jones or (old) Star Wars - trilogy of your DVD-collection again - than you should travel with your parents (and don't forget grandma) to former Austria and enjoy an easy-cheesy film-winter night.

This is the film version of the best selling book "Der Atem des Himmels" by Reinhold Bilgeri. A drama about a woman, that flees from her past into a mountain village to find love and encounter a horrible avalanche disaster in Vorarlberg/Austria.

I saw this, when it premiered on the Festspielbühne in Bregenz and I was quite impressed.

Reinhold Bilgeri is an ambitious man and filmmaker. He wouldn t let go of this project, he believed in it. And you can see, that he put his heart (and his family) in it.

From the very first scene the atmosphere of the book was on the screen. The pictures I had in mind when I read the lines were almost identical with what I saw there. Sure, some of the actors were more talented than other but I think this didn't hurt the overall experience. Some of the people in the film were actually from the region and farmers in real life. Whats more believable than that? From technical aspects is "Der Atem des Himmels" comparable to big German productions despite the low-budget. In the film the focus is more on the drama, less on the avalanche. The story's between the people, what Erna von Gaderthurn experiences. "Titanic" in the mountains, with less water and more snow.

I did especially like the performance of Reinholds daughter, Laura Bilgeri. She s an upcoming star for sure.

Overall I think you should give the film a shot and see it. It's the perfect example what man with a vision can achieve. And thats a lot!