David O'ConnellMIFF 2011: Michael
August 2nd 2011 03:16
Told with chilling conviction, Markus Schleinzer’s Michael is the story of a pedophile with a 10 year boy (David Rauchenberger) secreted in a locked subterranean room of his house. Though Michael (Michael Fuith) is evil incarnate, Schleinzer takes pains to humanise him; beyond the horrifying physical abuse, he isn’t portrayed as an utterly monstrous captor. He’s established clean living quarters for his prisoner with many of the comforts of home: toys, books, a television set and other amenities.
Schleinzer favours a naturalistic, matter-of-fact approach to the material. The visual style is precise, clinical and understated. He displays a documentarian’s grasp in charting the relationship between two – without sensationalizing it or exposing us to graphic representations of Michael’s diseased intent. The implications of degradation are enough; our imaginations are allowed to fill in the gaps and imagine the full extent of the boy’s plight.
There are plenty of creepy smaller details that reflect the disturbing depths of both Michael’s relationship with the boy and interactions with co-workers at his bland office job. Is he a pyschopath or a socially maladjusted misfit? One particularly crude scene in which Michael regurgitates a line from a movie he’s watched at the dinner table implies a perverted child-like mental imbalance. Somehow this seems even more frightening for the vacancy it suggests.
It seems the most unflattering form of praise possible to conclude that Fuith perfectly embodies the central character. What actor wants to be told they're ideal for the role of a pedophile? This is a stunning debut from Schleinzer, a former long time casting director who has worked for directors he's clearly been influenced by such as Michael Haneke, Ulrich Seidl and Jessica Hausner.
Michael (2011) is easily one of the most impressive films of the Festival so far. The ending will frustrate some but the lead up is admirably restrained, maintaining the disciplined tone of the rest of the film.
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