To my mind "Indien" is the best Austrian movie there is, with only "Der Bockerer" starring Karl Merkatz coming close. It's the story of two simple men (Josef Hader should originally have played Alfred Dorfer's part and Dorfer was supposed to do Hader's character. It's a good thing they decided to switch roles.) who can't stand each other but who have to work together. On their journey through Austria they get to know and like each other. The movie starts out funny and gets very sad in the end. But although the lives of Fellner and Bösel are really tragic "Indien" is a very optimistic movie, a movie about friendship, the meaning of life and, well, India. It should be watched with subtitles. I don't think translation works with this one.
8 Reviews
Great cinema from Austria!
Bettina-2325 March 2005
This is an entertaining movie about the encounter of 2 very different men in Austria.Brilliantly played, a great satire on many things Austrian and eventually proving a lot of depth without being patronizingly educational but by showing life as it is....with a wink of the eye.
I have not seen many movies that have to offer so much of everything: great laughs, heart, bitter satire, slapstick and also a serious side.
The two main characters are played by the 2 guys who originally wrote the theatre play "Indien" and who also adapted the script for the movie....it is really a piece of art....and so much fun to watch!
I have not seen many movies that have to offer so much of everything: great laughs, heart, bitter satire, slapstick and also a serious side.
The two main characters are played by the 2 guys who originally wrote the theatre play "Indien" and who also adapted the script for the movie....it is really a piece of art....and so much fun to watch!
A small miracle
_MonaLisa_1 October 1999
At least a great Austrian movie, funny and moving together. It starts as a comedy and then, within the last 20 minutes turns into a drama. You just can´t but sympathize with the two characters. I especially liked the ending: although it´s very sad, after the very last scene you can leave the theater with a smile.
True marvel
abr519 February 2011
A gem of simplicity and beauty. Maybe Austrian cultural experience brings more -- but first and foremost this is a HUMAN film, and an absolutely inspiring one at that. It's enjoyable to watch, but it really takes until the very end and then some sinking in after that to look back and become aware of the profound messages that it brings.
For some reason reviews need to be 10 lines of text now, despite all the previous excellent and helpful ones for this film being less. So we write some extra stuff here in hopes that that the kind moderator can remove them in interests of not clogging up the fine, pithy reviews for a fine, pithy film with a lot of unnecessary and burdening words.. :-)
For some reason reviews need to be 10 lines of text now, despite all the previous excellent and helpful ones for this film being less. So we write some extra stuff here in hopes that that the kind moderator can remove them in interests of not clogging up the fine, pithy reviews for a fine, pithy film with a lot of unnecessary and burdening words.. :-)
One of the best Austrian movies ever
nasha0021 February 2001
This film is surely one of the best Austrian movies ever.
It is full of comedy, tragedy, philosophy and pure typical Austrian maliciousness. Unfortunately you will not understand most of the intelligent jokes if you are not Austrian, and that not only because of the language (the film had to be subtitled in most of Germany). It is nevertheless a wonderful and very enjoyable movie but mostly for people that know Austria and its people.
It is full of comedy, tragedy, philosophy and pure typical Austrian maliciousness. Unfortunately you will not understand most of the intelligent jokes if you are not Austrian, and that not only because of the language (the film had to be subtitled in most of Germany). It is nevertheless a wonderful and very enjoyable movie but mostly for people that know Austria and its people.
More than a breakthrough work
Horst_In_Translation22 August 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"Indien" or "India" is an Austrian German-language film from 1993, so this one will have its 25th anniversary soon. The director here is Paul Harather and it was his big breakthrough film. He also wrote the screenplay together with lead actors Alfred Dorfer and Josef Hader, who both have been among Austria's acting elite since then. For this duo, it was also their breakthrough work. These days, this movie is considered one of the best Austrian films ever made and even if I am not sure if I agree with such a statement, I would say that I can see why people think so. It is the story of Kurt Fellner and Heinzi Boesel, two health inspectors who struggle early on in their work together, but quickly become friends. And they have a huge challenge coming up to their new friendship.
I personally thought there was more good than bad in this 85-minute movie. There were scenes for sure that did not feel too authentic in terms of how they did not really know each other for a long time and I am not sure if I really felt the strong connection that they wanted us to believe in. And then there are some individual scenes that the film could have done without, such as Dorfer's character's anger breakdown about why he is the one who got it towards the end. I know this one in particular was intended as an emotional highlight, but I cannot say I felt it was authentic or just fit in in terms of the characters' actions and reactions. But this is just personal perception and others may think completely different about this scene and maybe not like some of the scenes that I quite enjoyed. Which were quite a few and not just the ending (about reincarnation). All in all, this was a good, but not great movie. You may want to check it out if you like dramatic comedies or just Austrian films in general.
I personally thought there was more good than bad in this 85-minute movie. There were scenes for sure that did not feel too authentic in terms of how they did not really know each other for a long time and I am not sure if I really felt the strong connection that they wanted us to believe in. And then there are some individual scenes that the film could have done without, such as Dorfer's character's anger breakdown about why he is the one who got it towards the end. I know this one in particular was intended as an emotional highlight, but I cannot say I felt it was authentic or just fit in in terms of the characters' actions and reactions. But this is just personal perception and others may think completely different about this scene and maybe not like some of the scenes that I quite enjoyed. Which were quite a few and not just the ending (about reincarnation). All in all, this was a good, but not great movie. You may want to check it out if you like dramatic comedies or just Austrian films in general.
A Film about a friendship between a low-class- and a yuppie-restaurant-tester in Lower-Austria...
PuppetMa20 February 1999
Warning: Spoilers
The film tells the story about a friendship between two very different characters, who accidentally got to work together in Lower-Austria as Restaurant-Testers. The problems they got in the first time are quickly solved on an alcoholic basis. But after some time one of them will die of cancer.
A very funny film about Men-Friendship, Reincarnation and Low-Class-Philosophy.....
A very funny film about Men-Friendship, Reincarnation and Low-Class-Philosophy.....
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