MICHAEL (2011)

Yay, lucky me has won a DVD of "MICHAEL"!!  Huge thanks to Jude Felton from THE LAIR OF FILTH! :)

MICHAEL

Austria, 2011
Director: Markus Schleinzer

9/10

"Michael" is the directorial feature of Markus Schleinzer, casting director of Michael Haneke and Academy Award winner Stefan Ruzowitzky - and it's probably one of the most unsettling Austrian movies ever made (next to "Funny Games" and "Dog Days").

Schleinzer tells the story of a pedophile insurance agent who holds a child captive in his basement - a stunningly fascinating and highly disturbing story that resembles the famous Kampusch/Fritzl cases

The movie is nerve-wrackingly slow, immensely suspenseful and full of gloomy atmosphere. Script and direction are pitch-perfect and the absence of a soundtrack is very uncomfortable (apart from one slightly amusing scene featuring Boney M.'s "Sunny"). The bleak production design and the cold lighting provide a deeply depressing mood, and there are a few very unpleasant, very realistic scenes that shocked me to the core.

With the excellent, extremely believable performances of Michael Fuith ("Rammbock") and 11-year-old first-time actor David Rauchenberger, and a super-intense ending, "Michael" blew me away and left me utterly speechless. An amazing piece of Austrian cinema, well done Mr. Schleinzer!

Wiki ~ Imdb