Atmen

Thomas Schubert is Roman Kogler, a kid who's serving time in a juvenile detention center. He has a day job as a morgue attendant. He is socially awkward and can't connect with anybody. Can he find the connection that he so desperately need?

This movie moves rather slowly. It meanders along as we follow Roman around. There isn't anything dramatic going on until the final third of the movie. So we're relying on this being a character study. A character study has major problems here. The actor is not charismatic and the character is supposed to be withdrawn. Again that doesn't make for compelling watching. A final reveal is very enlightening about his incarceration. However, I think a violent action scene at the beginning would inject much needed tension into this character. It would serve the movie much better to see the incident at the beginning rather than hear about it at the end.

Austria has been hitting aces with films like THE COUNTERFEITERS and REVANCHE and again with BREATHING, the country proves it has got what it takes to be considered amongst quality film making countries.

The film is small and poignant driven by a brave, bold and haunting performance by Thomas Schubert. The boy delves deep into the character and comes up with a nuance and sincerely enriched performance stating that he clearly lived every second of the film and literally felt the character making him able to wear the character over himself like a costume.

The supporting cast was adequate and served their purpose decently.

Karl Markovics is a known actor who inspired me with his acting skills in THE COUNTERFEITERS but here he comes up with an even better film and inspires with his directing and writing skills. The scenes were meticulously crafted, the feelings of the reclusive lead character were so rich that one watching the film can easily feel the mental pain and torture that he goes through.

The scenes i like best were when the Schubert releases the trapped bird, it carefully tells how his character has evolved into someone less brutal and caring person.

The score by Herbert Tucmandl and cinematography by Martin Gschlacht was cool and provided with the accurate mood of the film; dense, low but yet beautiful.

This movie might not be appealing to everyone but the lovers of art-drama films will surely cherish this small gem from Austria.

Karl Markovics's "Atmen" ("Breathing" in English) focuses on a youth's emotional awakening and the issue of morality in our lives. The movie both gives the viewer a glimpse into the youth's life as he gets a job as a mortuary attendant while still in a juvenile detention center, but also how he has to confront the crime that put him juvie. There are also several shots of the environs of Vienna. I thought that the most effective scenes were the train, showing him going to and from the juvenile detention center, and how the advertisement comes into view, or vanishes.

I'd say that this was the right movie for Austria to submit for its nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards. Addressing matters of incarceration, ethics, and relationships, it hits the right notes.

Atmen is set in Austria and features a young man who has spent four years in juvenile detention and is breaking into the real world of work. The story is sad but also offers hope. The ending is a big surprise. Why did the young man end up where he was? You won't know unless you watch the whole film, which is beautifully shot and well acted.

The actor Karl Markovics has made a beautifully low-key directorial debut with this rumination on freedom, mortality and coming-of-age and the parallels between these things. He has a gift for imbuing a 'slice of life' story with a narrative engine that supplies tension and interest despite "not much happening" on screen, and his visual style is very well developed for a debut.

His greatest gift is directing actors - the ensemble here is magnificent. But he shouldn't take all the credit for the performing here - Thomas Schubert in the lead gives one of the best debut performances I've ever seen, completely lucid, emotionally immediate and "there", creating a tangible character that, over the course of the film, we get to know as closely as a good friend. He's a total natural, but that's not to say that he lends his characterisation a calculation and rigorous emotionality on par with the best professionals. Here's hoping for a long career ahead of him.