Die Fremde und das Dorf

The story is too simple, good actors are wasted. I can imagine that stuff like this happens in Austrian mountain villages a lot, but that does not say it is good for a movie. In this case it is not.

This looked more like a tourist advert. Though there would've been an opportunity to use the region to build an interesting story. There is history there in the narrow values and a certain atmosphere that isn't all just sunny. I remember rainy autumn weeks with clouds hanging low in the valleys.

Right from the start the use of a slight viennese accent by all the Austrian actors is puzzling. I understand this is a joint German/Austrian coproduction, and it needs to be understandable for potential tourists in Hamburg. Nevertheless, this takes away most of any authenticity. In the 21st century many people are used to reading subtitles when they can't completely follow. Though this might be not so common in German speaking countries where most foreign procuring are dubbed and people are possibly more used to this drastic form of deformation. In many ways the setting is completely irrelevant and the whole story could easily be transported to a different environment. It serves as a picture perfect backdrop. But maybe I missed a point here and all that the film actually cares about is showing off those mountains, cows and tractors. The story line itself seems very much from the 50s. I don't want to spoil it but it just lacks originality but surprisingly also plausibility. In conclusion, the feeling is one of a film that in too many aspects is chasing the funding. I could be mistaken but I think the Austrian tourism board will be happy with this.