First, I have to say that although I am a regular voter on IMDb, I usually do not write reviews. I am making an exception on this one however, partly because it's a small, regional production and I believe that no one else will bother writing one in the near future, and also because I found the film to be very disappointing.
Recent productions from Austria (e.g. The Counterfeiters, Revanche, The White Ribbon - yes, this IS an Austrian film) have drawn international attention to this small country's movie market and have clearly shown the possibilities that independent cinema can have, also when originating from small markets.
Unfortunately, "Der Atem des Himmels" can not follow in this line of great films. This is especially sad because, for various reasons, it would have had a lot of potential - the book was a bestseller, the author Reinhold Bilgeri himself directed the film, and it is based on one of the worst avalanche catastrophes in the Alps.
The film however never succeeds in creating the atmosphere of the book - or any atmosphere at all. Instead of focusing on the avalanche incident itself, the plot concentrates entirely on the main character, Erna, and how she copes to integrate in an Austrian mountain village's society.
The way this is presented makes it appear like it was directly taken out of a Rosamunde Pilcher novel (or, a film based on her novels). The stereotype characters engage in flat and meaningless dialogues. In combination with the superficial acting, especially from the main characters, the film often appears more like a German TV soap opera.
This holds true for almost the entire runtime of the film, an incredible 128 minutes. The avalanche incident itself is only portrayed in the last fifteen minutes, and is yet again overshadowed by banal dialogue and drama.
All in all, a very unexciting film, especially for its runtime. Most definitely not a runner for this year's Best Foreign Language Film.
Recent productions from Austria (e.g. The Counterfeiters, Revanche, The White Ribbon - yes, this IS an Austrian film) have drawn international attention to this small country's movie market and have clearly shown the possibilities that independent cinema can have, also when originating from small markets.
Unfortunately, "Der Atem des Himmels" can not follow in this line of great films. This is especially sad because, for various reasons, it would have had a lot of potential - the book was a bestseller, the author Reinhold Bilgeri himself directed the film, and it is based on one of the worst avalanche catastrophes in the Alps.
The film however never succeeds in creating the atmosphere of the book - or any atmosphere at all. Instead of focusing on the avalanche incident itself, the plot concentrates entirely on the main character, Erna, and how she copes to integrate in an Austrian mountain village's society.
The way this is presented makes it appear like it was directly taken out of a Rosamunde Pilcher novel (or, a film based on her novels). The stereotype characters engage in flat and meaningless dialogues. In combination with the superficial acting, especially from the main characters, the film often appears more like a German TV soap opera.
This holds true for almost the entire runtime of the film, an incredible 128 minutes. The avalanche incident itself is only portrayed in the last fifteen minutes, and is yet again overshadowed by banal dialogue and drama.
All in all, a very unexciting film, especially for its runtime. Most definitely not a runner for this year's Best Foreign Language Film.
