The Whore's Son

What will the adolescent son of a Yugoslavian mother in Vienna feel, when he finds out that she has been a prostitute since before he was born and not a waitress, as everybody told him? This might be an interesting question, and a very good starting point for a book or a film.

Unfortunately, writer-director Michael Sturminger doesn't have a lot to say about the topic. He is obviously a good director, impressively guiding the young boys who play the child Ozren and presenting good-looking, sometimes even beautiful images. The problem is that he completely fails as a screenwriter. His dialogues are stale and therefore really embarrassing. The story lacks ideas and surprise on the one hand, while being painfully exaggerated on the other hand. And the Vienna demimonde is presented full of clichés.

The leading actors are not bad but they appear to be because the things they have to say are unnatural and hackneyed. Hearing Ozren's uncle and aunt droning out their pearls of wisdom makes you want to escape.

Maybe the novel was bad. I don't know. But at least, Sturminger should have left the adaptation to somebody else and applied for a job as a soap opera writer.

THE WHORE'S SON ('Hurensohn'), based on a novel by Gabriel Loidolt and translated to the screen by Michael Glawogger is an interesting premise for a film - how does a child learn to accept the fact that his mother is a prostitute? The problem with the cinematic translation under Michael Sturminger's direction is that the tale becomes a one-note song. The ingredients seem to be right - gorgeous photography, beautiful actors - but the possibilities are simply never realized.

Covering a period of about fourteen or so years the film introduces Silvija (the very beautiful and fragile appearing Chulpan Khamatova), a Croatian refugee in Germany who throws out her abusive boyfriend who is the father of her infant son Ozren and strikes out on her own. Her only way to make ends meet is through prostitution, and while she adores her son, she by necessity must leave him with his Aunt Ljiljana (Ina Gogalova) while she plies her trade. The film follows the growth of the boy to his early teens when his role is played by the very sensitive, charismatic actor Stanislav Lisnic. Ozren is convinced that his mother is a waitress, until his friends and adults in the neighborhood (including fellow hookers) force him to realize Silvija's true profession. Silvija manages to provide Ozren with the basics of life - clothes, food, shelter, and love - and Ozren responds to her with unconditional love: even when he accepts the fact that Silvija is a prostitute he maintains his adoration (is it beyond that???) for her. There are sidebars that mix Yugoslavian politics with the plight of the immigrants in a foreign adopted land and there is a superficial relationship between Ozren and a classmate that seems to go nowhere. In the end we are essentially where we started: a son loves his mother despite her profession and her personality defects.

The film is a pleasure to view because of the excellent camera work by cinematographer Jürgen Jürges, an apt musical score by Adrian Vonwiller, and actors are all strong, especially Stanislav Lisnic and Chulpan Khamatova. The story outline has potential. It is a shame that potential got lost in the production values. Grady Harp