Releases
'Michael,' a Chilling Depiction of the Day-to-Day Banality of Evil, Opens Exclusive San Francisco Premiere Engagement May 11 at SF Film Society Cinema
Austrian Feature Debut Takes a Coolly Non-Judgmental, Non-Psychological Approach to a Disturbing Topic
4/17/2012
Michael (Austria 2011), Markus Schleinzer’s strongly disquieting portrait of evil, opens an exclusive San Francisco premiere engagement May 11 at SF Film Society Cinema (1746 Post Street).
Superb performances enrich this restrained drama about a quiet pedophile’s home life with a kidnapped boy. Michael is employed at an Austrian insurance company. A solitary and somewhat irritable worker, his behavior gives no indication that at home he has a 10-year-old boy locked in a soundproof room in the basement. Once the shades are drawn at the suburban house and the boy, Wolfgang, is let out of his room, the two enact a twisted variation of normal family life with dinner and a bit of TV, a jigsaw puzzle or a trip to the zoo. Although the film does not show any explicit sex, it provides constant reminders of what lurks just off screen, and Michael’s psychological exploitation evident in interactions where Wolfgang tries to test his power with his captor in a way that disturbingly echoes normal preadolescent parental conflicts. By telling this dark story with the cool, impassive gaze of an outside observer which sometimes results in a kind of grim humor, and without making any attempt to explain Michael’s behavior, director Markus Schleinzer—whose casting work with other masters of Austrian unease such as Ulrich Seidl, Jessica Hausner and Michael Haneke will come as no surprise—creates a strongly disquieting portrait of evil. Written by Markus Schleinzer. Photographed by Gerald Kerkletz. With Michael Fuith, David Rauchenberger. In German with subtitles. 96 min. Distributed by Strand Releasing.
Watch the trailer here.
Showtimes 4:15, 9:00 pm
Tickets $9 for SFFS members, $11 general, $10 senior/student/disabled. Box office now open online at sffs.org and in person at SF Film Society Cinema.
For more information visit sffs.org/Exhibition/SF-Film-Society-Cinema.
To request an interview contact hhart@sffs.org.
To request screeners contact bproctor@sffs.org.
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/pressdownloads.
At SF Film Society Cinema, the stylish state-of-the art theater located in the New People building at 1746 Post Street (Webster/Buchanan) in Japantown, the San Francisco Film Society offers its acclaimed exhibition, education and filmmaker services programs and events on a daily year-round basis. For complete up-to-date information on all SFFS Cinema programming, including buying tickets, visit sffs.org/cinema.
Upcoming San Francisco Film Society programs
Through April 19: The Turin Horse
April 19–May 3: 55th San Francisco International Film Festival
Opens May 4: The Day He Arrives
Also Opening May 11: Here Braden King’s assured fiction-feature debut inspired by a love of map-making and the mythology of exploration.
Opening May 18: Eric Rohmer double feature, Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle and Le Rayon Vert (Summer).
Opening May 25: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia Masterful police procedural from acclaimed Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan yields a quietly poignant portrait of the human condition.
San Francisco Film Society
Building on a legacy of more than 50 years of bringing the best in world cinema to the Bay Area, the San Francisco Film Society is a national leader in exhibition, education and filmmaker services.
The Film Society presents 365 days of exhibition each year, reaching a total audience of 130,000 people. Its acclaimed education program introduces international, independent and documentary cinema and media literacy to more than 15,000 teachers and students and presents more than 100 classes and workshops annually. Through Filmmaker360, the filmmaker services program, essential creative and business services and funding totaling millions of dollars are provided to deserving filmmakers of all levels.
The Film Society seeks to elevate all aspects of film culture, offering a wide range of activities that engage emotions, inspire action, change perceptions and advance knowledge. A 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, it is largely donor and member supported. Patronage and membership provides discounted prices, access to grants and residencies, private events and a wealth of other benefits.
For more information visit sffs.org.
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Superb performances enrich this restrained drama about a quiet pedophile’s home life with a kidnapped boy. Michael is employed at an Austrian insurance company. A solitary and somewhat irritable worker, his behavior gives no indication that at home he has a 10-year-old boy locked in a soundproof room in the basement. Once the shades are drawn at the suburban house and the boy, Wolfgang, is let out of his room, the two enact a twisted variation of normal family life with dinner and a bit of TV, a jigsaw puzzle or a trip to the zoo. Although the film does not show any explicit sex, it provides constant reminders of what lurks just off screen, and Michael’s psychological exploitation evident in interactions where Wolfgang tries to test his power with his captor in a way that disturbingly echoes normal preadolescent parental conflicts. By telling this dark story with the cool, impassive gaze of an outside observer which sometimes results in a kind of grim humor, and without making any attempt to explain Michael’s behavior, director Markus Schleinzer—whose casting work with other masters of Austrian unease such as Ulrich Seidl, Jessica Hausner and Michael Haneke will come as no surprise—creates a strongly disquieting portrait of evil. Written by Markus Schleinzer. Photographed by Gerald Kerkletz. With Michael Fuith, David Rauchenberger. In German with subtitles. 96 min. Distributed by Strand Releasing.
Watch the trailer here.
Showtimes 4:15, 9:00 pm
Tickets $9 for SFFS members, $11 general, $10 senior/student/disabled. Box office now open online at sffs.org and in person at SF Film Society Cinema.
For more information visit sffs.org/Exhibition/SF-Film-Society-Cinema.
To request an interview contact hhart@sffs.org.
To request screeners contact bproctor@sffs.org.
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/pressdownloads.
At SF Film Society Cinema, the stylish state-of-the art theater located in the New People building at 1746 Post Street (Webster/Buchanan) in Japantown, the San Francisco Film Society offers its acclaimed exhibition, education and filmmaker services programs and events on a daily year-round basis. For complete up-to-date information on all SFFS Cinema programming, including buying tickets, visit sffs.org/cinema.
Upcoming San Francisco Film Society programs
Through April 19: The Turin Horse
April 19–May 3: 55th San Francisco International Film Festival
Opens May 4: The Day He Arrives
Also Opening May 11: Here Braden King’s assured fiction-feature debut inspired by a love of map-making and the mythology of exploration.
Opening May 18: Eric Rohmer double feature, Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle and Le Rayon Vert (Summer).
Opening May 25: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia Masterful police procedural from acclaimed Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan yields a quietly poignant portrait of the human condition.
San Francisco Film Society
Building on a legacy of more than 50 years of bringing the best in world cinema to the Bay Area, the San Francisco Film Society is a national leader in exhibition, education and filmmaker services.
The Film Society presents 365 days of exhibition each year, reaching a total audience of 130,000 people. Its acclaimed education program introduces international, independent and documentary cinema and media literacy to more than 15,000 teachers and students and presents more than 100 classes and workshops annually. Through Filmmaker360, the filmmaker services program, essential creative and business services and funding totaling millions of dollars are provided to deserving filmmakers of all levels.
The Film Society seeks to elevate all aspects of film culture, offering a wide range of activities that engage emotions, inspire action, change perceptions and advance knowledge. A 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, it is largely donor and member supported. Patronage and membership provides discounted prices, access to grants and residencies, private events and a wealth of other benefits.
For more information visit sffs.org.
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