Enskied in Austrian media already after the first couple of episodes, audiences' expectations on the eight-episode series "Braunschlag" could have been smaller. However, the first episode about the indebted fictional village on the border between Lower Austria and the Czech Republic manages to hold up to the hype and is most of all rememberable, despite some ups and downs.
The story, involving an ensemble cast, in which all characters have some sort of relation to each other, isn't the main focus of writer and director David Schalko. Much rather, he enjoys creating down-to-earth characters and overdrawing them just a tad, so that genuine comedy in the deadpan style Austria is famous for, emerges. The cast involves some of the most well-known Austrian actors and actresses and while not the whole lot of them is good in their roles, they all know how to bring Schalko's writing to the screen in the most entertaining way.
"Ein heiliges Wunder", which means "A Holy Wonder" when translated into English, does a fine job at establishing the situation, although the dialogue sometimes is on the verge of over-explaining. The comedy never misses out and was perpetually well-written, however, only a handful of punchlines had me laughing out loud. Nonetheless, the concept works and bar some silly scenes like the episode's ending scene, "Braunschlag" seems to be a rare quality product from the Alpine country.
The story, involving an ensemble cast, in which all characters have some sort of relation to each other, isn't the main focus of writer and director David Schalko. Much rather, he enjoys creating down-to-earth characters and overdrawing them just a tad, so that genuine comedy in the deadpan style Austria is famous for, emerges. The cast involves some of the most well-known Austrian actors and actresses and while not the whole lot of them is good in their roles, they all know how to bring Schalko's writing to the screen in the most entertaining way.
"Ein heiliges Wunder", which means "A Holy Wonder" when translated into English, does a fine job at establishing the situation, although the dialogue sometimes is on the verge of over-explaining. The comedy never misses out and was perpetually well-written, however, only a handful of punchlines had me laughing out loud. Nonetheless, the concept works and bar some silly scenes like the episode's ending scene, "Braunschlag" seems to be a rare quality product from the Alpine country.
