Le braqueur - la dernière course

I have always found runners and cyclists to be a strange lot. Why would they devote hours of their time to sweating except to get some kind of a rush similar to drug addicts?

This film shows that life clearly, as Johann (Andreas Lust) gets out of prison and, rather than seek a life of fame and glory as a long distance runner and settle down with a woman who loves him, he pursues a life of crime. He is seeking the same or a higher rush that he gets from running.

He doesn't quit running, but uses it to aid in stealing. It's never about money, as we never see him spend any. He just stores thousands of Euros under his bed. He even maintains a blank look as Erika (Franziska Weisz) tries to get some emotion out of him. His life is wrapped up in the rush he gets from stealing.

Both primary actors gave very good performances in a film that had you on the edge as time ran out for Johann.

Well I say it's a true story it is, as usual, based on real facts. The film is about a marathon runner called Johann Rettenberger played by the uber brilliant Andreas Lust ('Munich'). After being released from prison for armed robbery he goes on to win a Viennese marathon. He is though a loner and his parole officer is concerned that he seems to shun the company of others – 'the loneliness of the long distance runner' personified as it were.

He soon moves in with an old flame who is still carrying a torch for him. He meanwhile remains as cold as a fish and aside from practice runs he starts to do armed robberies all over Austria. He seems to love the thrill of the chase as much as the loot he is making off with. What follows is a really extraordinary story of a life quite literally on the run. This is in German with good English sub titles.

This is a very well made film, with Lust putting in an excellent performance of a man who is so far removed from societal norms that he has his completely own set of values. This is based on a novel but the real story comes from Johan Kastenberger who did all his robberies in a Ronald Regan mask and his story is probably more sensational than as depicted here. Either way a really superb way to spend 100 minutes and a film I can recommend to all lovers of Euro based crime cinema.

What things do ordinary people need in lives? Money, a house, a family, children, happiness, love I guess. But the main character of this film rejected all those things wanted by others (except him). Why? Because of his different identity. Life has another shape and sense in his mind (which is both the most interesting and strangest part in the film). The Robbers's activity seemed to be nonsense and destructive comparatively to common reasons. But The Robber is neither an adrenaline maniac nor a risk searcher. He is just a man, who can live only in running. In this case everything (even including his life) is not meaningless and the reality is closer to him than ever before. Although we are not told how Mr Rittenberger became such an emptied "stranger" (refer to Camus), I think that it is not as imроrtant line as thinking about his present life, and the director made us free to analyze this situation and problems in it. Behind the running and robbing (which are just images in my opinion) there are serious questions about the human being, human existence, the meaning of life, the person's identity etc., - the area for Q&A is really huge.

Andreas Lust lovely performed a state of mind of the main character, who stood at the existential threshold, observing the world from the outside . It is a truly European cinema with minimalistic cover but with the strong and thoughtful content inside.

Whenever the movie or a TV show is based on real events or people, its a slippery slope. There is that pesky,annoying difference between the movie and real life. In real life one encounters all kinds of people, makes little contact with them and continues his own way. In the movie, alas, we need much more. The true story based on the marathon runner with a penchant for robbing banks, sounds very original and interesting.The trouble is that Johannn, the lead character stays completely unknown to us by the end of the movie. We have no idea what makes him tick, what his motives are. His stony, stoic expression doesn't give away much. He keeps running and by the end of the movie, I felt the same, albeit running away from the TV set.

Adapted from Dennis Prinz's novel, which is based on real events, "The Robber" has all the elements of a penetrating character study. Unfortunately, director Martin Heisenberg doesn't always use those elements to his advantage. The story is about Johann Rettenberger, an Austrian bandit/marathoner known as "Pump-gun Ronnie." Heisenberg takes a muted, non-psychological approach to his story, and without much in the way of emotional engagement, keeping viewers engaged is certainly more challenging than need be.

Andreas Lust stars as Johann Rettenberger, a serial bank robber who has spent a six- year bid in prison training as a long-distance runner. After being released from prison, Johann runs into Erika (Franziska Weisz) at the Job Center which helps ex- cons find work. The dialogue makes it clear they've met before, but the narrative annoyingly withholds any connection to their past. Why is the beautiful, well-to-do Erika so drawn to this emotionally distant career criminal?

Ultimately, Johann returns to Vienna and combines his two true passions and what he knows best -- running and knocking over banks. His dominance on the marathon circuit gets him noticed, as does his daylight bank heists. Notoriously referred to as "Pump-gun Ronnie," after the Ronald Reagan mask he wears and the shotgun he brandishes. To this day, Rettenberger still holds the record time in the Bergmarathon, a world-famous marathon held in the Austrian Alps.

Frustratingly, we never really get a sense of who Johann is or what motivates him. He is expressionless, cold-hearted, and remains distant throughout. Heisenberg's treatment vividly communicates Rettenberger's neurotic defiance and destructive behavior, but that's no substitute for enabling the viewer to become invested in the character's fate. Johann does not let people into his life, and is a blank cipher as to why he leads the life of a bank robber. It is clearly not the money. Maybe it's the rush he gets, or maybe it is an unexplained obsession. The filmmaker leaves it for the viewer to decide. Although Heisenberg tries to suggest the robberies provide Johann with an adrenaline rush similar to that he experiences while running marathons, the character fails to show any sense of pleasure or catharsis that would make this parallel interesting.

Technical aspects of the film are highly impressive, and the incorporation of Johann into actual Vienna Marathon provides a real sense of authenticity. As a matter of execution, the film's last act is undeniably thrilling. Exceptional work by steadicam operator Matthias Biber gives all the chases and action sequences a visceral energy. "The Robber" could have been a great representation of compulsive behavior. As is, it is a rigid film that is technically sound with a fascinating lead protagonist we still know nothing about.