Direct from Cannes, this potent, superbly acted drama traces a young man’s dawning apprehension of life beyond the state institutions and prisons that have shaped him. “A sober, compelling drama.” — Hollywood Reporter
Actor-turned-director Karl Markovics’s debut feature Breathing is a superb film.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2011
Breathing 2011
Atmen
This quietly potent, superbly acted drama traces a young man’s dawning apprehension of life beyond the state institutions and prisons that have shaped him. A directorial debut for Austrian actor Karl Markovics, Breathing impressed all who saw it at Cannes, including the Directors’ Fortnight jury who awarded it the European Film prize. — BG
“A sober, compelling drama distinguished by its intelligent restraint, controlled visual style and a matter-of-fact observational approach that gives it bracing dramatic integrity… Markovics has a swift, economical way of getting us inside the head of taciturn protagonist Roman Kogler (Thomas Schubert), whose loner world is a place of little warmth but even less self-pity… The film’s perceptiveness means that its themes of atonement, of reconnection with the world, and of hope all emerge quietly, without needing to be spelled out or cushioned by artificially cozy consolation.” — David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter