Hierankl

I really had a lot of expectations when I went to see this movie knowing Johanna Wokalek plays the leading role and it also has Barbara Sukowa in it, one of my favorite actresses of the Fassbinder era, and also Hans Simonischek, arguably one of the titans of German language theater. Normally, when expectations run high, the disappointment is big, but this movie really did deliver! The story is intense and very well scripted, acting is superb by the entire cast to the tiniest role. Director Hans Steinbichler, a first-timer, delivered a true masterpiece. Johanna Wokalek who has to carry his movie does it in a sovereign manner! Photography by Bella Hallen is amazing, this is a benchmark achievement and gives a new dimension to what is normally labeled as "Heimatfilm". The landscape, the mountains and hills of Upper Bavaria are photographed in a way that they always reflect the mood of the characters, thus enhancing the story and transport it on a superimposed visual level. Same goes for the music by Anton Gross. They all add up the enhance the increasingly unsettling atmosphere on the remote Hierankl manor and draw you in this story of love, longing, and utter betrayal. I have not seen a movie as good as this one in quite a while! I rated it 10 out of 10.

There's breathtaking landscape as in any Heimatfilm. There are likeable characters, too. The idyllic scenery is overshadowed by adultery and incest -- but that might be kind of okay, as Paul suggests at the end.

Steinbichler wrote and directed this movie for graduating from a German film academy. Two famous actors, Bierbichler (mainly plays Brecht) and Sukowa (worked with Fassbinder), obviously believed in the script and gave him a chance. The lead role of Lene was given to Johanna Wokalek, a fresh face to me (though IMDB says the played in Aimée und Jaguar). She is absolutely enchanting, so I don't know what to write about her without making a fool of myself.

Facing the truth and trying to cope with it -- possibly even in a humorous way -- this is what this movie is about, and I think I've learned a bit from it.

After Siebtelbauern (1998), this is only the second Heimatfilm that I intensely liked. Everybody seemed to be happy when this genre died in the 60ies. A new generation of film makers has given the much-hated Heimatfilm a new meaning. Thank you for that!