Der Räuber

Most fans of Hollywood movies will probably not like this film because it doesn't contain massive explosions or a bombastic soundtrack (in fact it practically has none) but this stunner (based on the story of a real life bank robber) is one of the great thrillers of the decade. A sleek, sparse study of existentialism, THE ROBBER is a must see.

It begins rather abruptly, the first scene is a man named Johann (superbly played by Andreas Lust) running in what seems like a training center, but as soon as the camera pans back we realize he is in a prison and is about to be released after serving a 6 year sentence. As the story unfolds Johann is set free where he begins to win marathons but leads a double life as he returns to his old habits of stealing cars and then using them as getaway vehicles for his bank robberies.

As with European cinema, much of the pacing and characters are understated, there are times when nobody says anything but from the background noises and the looks on their faces you can clearly tell what they are thinking. Even though the few people he knows (his former girlfriend, his parole officer) deeply cares for him and pulls strings to get him to live a normal life it's clear that he does not want any of it. Johann just wants to rob banks and run because that is all he is. The whole movie takes place in Austria, the land of Heidi and Vienna coffee houses but with the movie being portrayed through Johann's eyes, Austria seems bleak, detached and robotic to make it look almost unbearable to be living in; while there are other characters in the story, they seem to be nothing more than minor twinkles in Johann's eye- he does not care for them and it almost seems like they are ghosts to him.

There were some professional critics that lambasted this movie for not revealing Johann's motivation on why he is what he is. But what they don't understand is that it really doesn't matter. Some people do things because it's the one thing (or two in Johann's case) that gives them meaning- everything else is of no consequence. I find the main protagonist/antagonist of this movie to be a combination of Johnny Depp's John Dillinger in PUBLIC ENEMIES and Barry Newman's Kowalski in VANISHING POINT. They exist only to do the one thing that matters to them and that's it.

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.

Austrian-German co-production, Der Räuber (The Robber, 2010), based on the real events, tells the story about the long-distance runner, who could've lived a decent life, having a loving and caring girlfriend, a solid place to stay, and an extraordinary talent for long-distance running that he could've easily made a good living on, but instead, he additionally specializes and excels in bank robbing, becoming an addict of such an unusual activity for no other obvious reason but for possible "beauty of a criminal campaign" and adrenaline rush received along. (He's hinted times and again that he couldn't have cared less about the stolen money itself, by jamming it into black rubbish plastic bags, as if he was going to trash it.) One of those life stories that you cannot help but get unpleasantly amazed with how all the reasonable prerequisites for a good life, though inexplicably, yet seemingly so unnecessarily, get flushed down the drain, apparently faithfully presented in the movie with understandable, ergo acceptable lack of intention to ease the answers to the hard whys.

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.

(If you want a summary of the film, read anybody else here.) Despite the activities shown, the film abounds in "still waters." The presentation of activities and the principal character sticks solely to the surface without any explanations. The film is enigmatic and compelling, perhaps even boring to some. Any people seeing this together will have much to discuss afterwards.

Anyone seeing it will come in knowing the robber is a runner since that is the basis for all the advertising. I'm no runner and usually not very interested but this was especially fascinating. The actor Lust portrays the title character in a beautifully minimalist performance and also gives the footwork a distinctive style. I don't know if it would win races but it sure works in this film.

Acting and all aspects of the filmmaking are excellent overall. Even the music for the end credits is good for emerging from the deep waters.