Bernhard’s last play Heldenplatz, viewed as an attack on Austria, caused a media sensation in Vienna in 1989 and brought widespread reactions of outrage that ranged from the man in the street to the highest government officials. Such criticism totally misconstrued the nature and purpose of the play, which in form, style, and content fits directly into the normal sequence of his plays. Using his standard technique of exaggeration and employing his outstanding linguistic talent, Bernhard contributes to the theme of Vergangenheitsbewältigung on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Anschluβ. A sickly character, Robert Schuster, representing a fatally ill Bern-hard, makes a last effort to confront the deficiencies of the land Bernhard loved, not hated, as is commonly assumed.
Tag: 1980s
American-born athlete Victor Herman becomes a prisoner of Soviet Russia’s mounting nationalism. At 16, he moves to Russia, where he excels in parachute jumping. As his accomplishments draw praise, Soviet officials ask that he renounce his American citizenship. When Herman refuses, he is exiled to Siberia and imprisoned in a hard-labor camp for 18 years because of his so-called “counterrevolutionary activities.” The film is based on a true story.
Isaac Ink drags a corpse through the bowels of a city of confusing geometry and labyrinthine architecture. Along the way he comes across sinister incarnations of science and technology, presented as oppressors of the contemporary man. A glimmer of humanity survives in music, dance, and sex, in the figure of a colorful jester who briefly lights up Mr. Ink’s shadowy path.
A sculptor is fighting his final battle against death on his houseboat on the frozen Schelde river. Two women are at his side: his first wife, who he is divorced from, and his second wife. The latter is most concerned about his death as she realizes that in the end the only result will be irrevocable loneliness. She wants to postpone the fatal moment and therefore tries to find comfort in her reminiscences from the times when she was happy with him. A story about fidelity till after death.
This story takes place during an experiment concerning psychological effects of mental fatigue on those locked in a fallout shelter for a long period of time. Twelve subjects are locked in a nuclear fallout shelter to see how long they can endure before mental breakdown occurs. After the experiment Dr. Herbert Monroe tells the world about this terrifying experiment and its outcome.
Young lovers on the run in Paris attempt to elude a number of sinister characters. French new-wave filmmaker Claude Chabrol, appearing in a bizarre role as a voyeur, is one of many in-jokes/references to Fuller’s fascination with European culture.
With the help of a couple of her oddball friends, a woman takes her former lesbian lover to a hotel to convince her that their affair shouldn’t end. After much shouting and some sex, things complicate when the lover’s husband shows up.
Mauro, a judge, is worried about his older sister Marta, who took care of him since he was a boy, and is now affected by psychic problems and suicide fantasies. She seems to recover from her depression when Mauro acquaints her with Giovanni, a brilliant actor at the edge of legality. Mauro become unconsciously jealous of this relationship, and tries to get Giovanni arrested.