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Experienced at the Viennale 2023 on the big screen of the Gartenbaukino - as it shall be for such a picture! To see Mozart in Vienna is an additional emotional plus, I guess. In the city that could not give the fitting praise to the genius of Mozart in his time.

As one of the foremost lovers of his music, I know his biography well. And that Salieri was not to blame for the early death of Mozart. We musiclovers will forever struggle with the big question: what masterworks could never be written, how many grandios operas can never be performed, because the only one, who was able to write them died too early.

But fate did not allow it! And that is the phenomenal trick of Amadeus that this fate is given a single face - that of Salieri. And so the viewer is able to experience the fate of Mozart in a translation that travels through similar emotions, like those we feel globally about the early loss of Mozart. And this is - pure art!

We see a fake story, but this fake story is closer to our common felt historical pain than any true documentary could tell us.

It was a terrible failure of the Academy not to give the Oscar for best actor to both, Abraham and Hulce.

The final scene, Mozart in his deathbed teaches Salieri, how to go on with the music score of his Requiem, is acting at the very highest level. No doubt, Hulce and Abraham are - in this moment - fully, totally, Mozart and Salieri.

It is always difficult to find a right rating 7, 8 or 9 for a very good movie. But if you see a rating-10-movie (for my taste there might be appr. 30 movies around, I would rate 10), there is no doubt that it deserves a 10. And, absolutely no doubt, Milos Foreman's Amadeus is one of these movies!

Before the projection of the movie the daughter of Eric Pleskow (president of the Viennale for 20 years and producer of Amadeus in 1984) gave the Oscar statue for Amadeus as best picture to Eva Sangiori, the present director of the Viennale, as a gift to the Viennale - a very nice gesture!

Seen at Viennale 2023: the problem with the digital medium is that it became too cheap to produce long movies in our days. On expensive celluloid, I guess, movies like this would be shorter. To fill the length one discovery is made ALWAYS after another and so is discussed at court in the same time line. This is extremely constructed. In a case of crime at least some happenings of the past should be in front of the judge at once and not like pearls on a string discussed one after the other. The movie content is highly intellectual sorted in the time arrow. So there is no room for actors and actress to give much of a performance.

The Palme d'Or of Cannes should be given to movies that might be good enough to be remembered in several years, too. This boring piece of couple relation themes will be forgotten im a few years for good.

Seen at the Viennale23: okay, for middle aged people (boomer) that movie is extrem. There are no shocking moments, but the play with live and death; to bring a real child daughter back to life, showing all ugly circumstances is not typical horror movie business.

The director Laura Moss must be a very special character to be able to make movies like that, ethically across the border.

Still, there is some truth in this disturbing story. The love of a mother goes beyond live. And that love can be stronger and be obsessive - even the suffering of the daughter cannot stop selfish motherhood.

Fine soundtrack completes the pictures.

I cannot give more than 6, because it is no fun to watch. But highly recommended!

Seen at the Viennale film festival 2023: family and friends meet for the birthday party of a sick father in the last days of his life. Last moments of happiness. Every feeling might be the last to him. It's a saying goodbye to the daughter, the wife, family, friends. An unbearable task. Inhuman, but 'necessary'. But, why bother to look such suffering on the screen. It is nothing what we can do, to improve in those cases a family member gets dead sick. So we look helpless at the screen, all the impossibility to die in dignity is in front of us. Everybody lies in every moment - even the sick father - to make the unbearable bearable.

And in the end it is still the best all can do in this last party of a life.

Sadly, to look at it for one hour and a half - is boring.

Seen at the Viennale 2023: I wonder, how a good writer can put so much content into 2 hours. Such a good storytelling! A mother, a teacher, a school director and two children. The story is perfectly constructed in such a way that nobody understands the doing of the other person, because people seldom look closer into the truth (or ask the right questions), but interpret within their very own mind frame.

The two boys play wonderfully and the movie shows the enormous potential of children, when the parent's leash is not too tight.

There was some sort of Happy End and hope, when we left the cinema. And the lesson's learned, to look closer to the truth and not own interpretation, if someone gets into trouble.

Seen at the Viennale 2023: After half an hour I looked at my watch the first time. I guess, for the long, very long rest of the movie I did look at the time more than a dozen times.

It seems, Bertrand Bonello found the wonderful looking Léa Seydoux. And because she is so beautiful, he just wanted to show her face from all angels.

Seydoux must play a totally passive woman, whose aim in live is singularly one: to find the right partner! And the whole movie she suffers, because the man is not obtainable.

Sometimes I wonder, how much money is spent on movies without any urgency to show something.

You know, a beautiful face is nice to look at. But not for more than 2,5 hours.

A not very pleasant character is the lead. He is selfish, self regretting, seeks love of too young girls, wants a women, because a friend wants her, has no aim to help other people, talks a lot about bad circumstances, but does nothing to improve something. Truly, not somebody we want to follow as lead character. But .... movies are long enough to do a lot of self reflecting during viewing. And in the end I had to admit to myself: my own character is - very sadly - quite close to that of this lead character. And he survives - so I might survive, too.

Don't be afraid of the movie length. In fact I could have studied the characters for another hour... Fully recommended !

Seen at the Viennale 2023: we all know the feeling. Coming to a party, feeling that all other people are cooler and smarter and more beautiful, too. In this situation we lose the last intelligence in the brain and start to mumble. Best to leave or drink - hoping to get in a more likeable mood. Petzold takes this situation and has the problem that that theme alone cannot fill a whole movie. In the end he makes a movie around an coming age topic. I guess, not many 20somethings will flock in the cinemas for the latest Petzold. And grownups want more than to follow a sad fellow, when everybody knows that will change over the years anyway, looking at that character.

Story and acting pull you into the screen. I hope, the circumstances of the teenagers in the Plattenbauten are not that brutal as shown in this movie. Poverty of the families prevents the kids to get access to attention from girls or better educated grown-ups. And so the kids do not get a compass for strategic decisions towards a better life.

The most important treasure in such a toxic social environment is close friendship to get a chance to survive the teenage years. And this friendship between 4 teenagers is the core of the story.

My best movie of 2023 so far. A pity it is too dirty for an Oscar nomination.

I saw this movie 20 years ago and did not see it since. One day, I want to see it again. But it must be on the big screen. I will not watch this one on a flat screen. The story og these 3 women tells so much more - the chemistry of life, the struggle of co-existence, the paradox of decision making without knowing all the numbers. Why, go on and on? And why, some try so hard? And at the end of the doorway there is no angel waiting with open arms.

20 years ago I left the movie with my then-girlfriend and felt in her arms - sobbing and unable to articulate what was going on in my hearth and brain. Up to today I do not know it. But that feeling has never left since I went out of that cinema on a cold night in Vienna so many years ago. The movie ist bound to my body and soul. It is part of my own character. To me - therefore - it is my best movie of all times.

The movie gets stuck several times. A lot of quotes are trivial and nearly childish. I have seen this movie (I disagree to sort it out into the genre musical) 1981 and I did not understand the deeper meaning, but was fascinated by the sexy dancing. Nevertheless the story itself - life and death - catched me. All the years (40!) I had the feeling that I have seen a masterpiece on the TV, maybe. Something similar - so big as Kubrick's 2001, at least so significant regarding the being of life itself.

Now, 2022, the movie was shown twice in Vienna's best cinema (Gartenbaukino). I had to go. To look after, is the feeling in me right?, seeing it once only, 40 years ago?

It is! More than before. I am close to 60 now and not to die is not granted anymore. So this film got me into all the mixed feelings of dead, life, beauty and the huge importance of creating. Creating something is life itself. Life without creating is like being dead alive. And to die is the last show on earth. I hope I will be able to fantasize something appropriate in my last hours to peak before the lights are shut down.

A movie that stays with me since decades. It is on my top ten movies list of all time. I do not think that a remake could outbid this classic. But, if I would be a director today, I would try it. I would love to see a todays try on this stuff!

Completely weird, but incredibly risky script. Clearly this is a movie only accessible to those, who can read the subtext. Is Wonderwoman still a tale invented by man's fantasy, the female pilot Garrett is true to a feminist fighter including motherhood.

The interesting thing with The Souvenir is that after leaving the cinema I would have scored it with 6 stars only. But, I write my reviews always several days after watching a movie to avoid overemphasizing of the new. Usually the score goes down after few days. I think, this is the first movie it went up. Surely, somebody might say a rating should be of the movie only. But I appreciate what a movie does to me, too. And The Souvenir worked a lot on my soul and in my brain for the last four days, after watching. Why? I am not sure. I guess, because Hogg produced art, how art should be. A mix of beauty, irritation, space for interpretation, moral openness, different views from different angles. Who is the victim, who the culprit? Which way round and a-round? Human experience needs its own victims. A bad guy teaches this girl more than a good guy ever could. Does she know that already at the beginning of the relationship? Does she abuse him? I think, she does, in a way. But how guilty is she, by doing it? How guilty I am myself by abusing people's emotion towards me? Is it possible not to abuse our family and friends? We have only one life. The Souvenir shows our curiosity to break out into life, if we dare. If you decide to go for it - go for the best cinema around with the highest audio quality. Best, go alone. You will need every part of your body to open all your senses. Let yourself not be drawn into lack of interest. It can easily happen and this 8-star movie will perform as a 3-star movie.

The Rich. And the Poor. In this one the poor family is neither fighting for their rights nor are they fighting for their future. They try to go along as the parasites of a rich family. I guess, this script shows perfectly, how a saturated generation X sees the stereotype of poor people in today's times. Nothing to like in this movie. The story is inhuman in every sense.

Seen at the Viennale 2019: I have seen John Cusack in Identity (2003) the day before. Somehow the spirit of Motherless Brooklyn is similar. And so I and my partner mistook Norton for Cusack up to the middle of this movie (we have seen this one as surprise movie - which is always fun at the Viennale). The movie itself is very well done. Nothing to critisize. Norton plays fanastic. Baldwin, too. But the story is very conventional. It is not like Birdman (same actors). Good entertainment. But that is already all of it. Would I go to see it in a regular cinema program? I am not sure...

Seen at the Viennale 2019: A handheld camera cannot get closer to acting people. Always in the face it is near impossible to get a helping overview for the espionage story. Who is for the Chinese, who for the Japanese, who for the Germans, the French, the US? Nearly impossible to understand why somebody is doing something. The b/w-pictures do not help to distinguish between all the unfamiliar faces. Since digital cameras can record even without proper lighting the pictures are not b/w like in the old movies, but grey in grey - that does not help to recognize the faces in every situation either. At the end of the movie it is somehow clear who was on which side. Looking at the picture a second time to understand all the details of the story? Nay.. but the movie is rescued sensationally by a hundred percent believable acting of all the cast. Not for one second there is any weakness in dragging you in. For the regular Cineast a must-see.

Seen at the Viennale 2019: the Greek National Film Archive lend this fragile 35mm copy to the film festival. It was shown twice to a sold out seating. Cinematography in this b/w movie was excellent. The mix of close-up-to-the-face filming and big panorama pictures of Greek dying nature was perfect. We know that war is no fun. The director knows that we know and therefore does not need and is not willing to celebrate this side of the war. He goes for the senselessness in life (and hints that this might be also true in times of peace...).

Seen at the Viennale 2019: Definitely, I should have fallen for this one. I love the acting of Johannssen and of Driver in all their previous movies. I was aware that it might be easier for Driver to play a character role (and I was right). But Johannssen did not fall short behind to hit the right keys in her emotional outbursts. Sadly, the script did not work out to create an convincing setting for the story about the divorcing of a grownup couple. I did not understand, why the lawyers got such an important part in the story. The static camera work did not help either, and so did not the clean stage setting. Also the television aspect ratio of 16:9 freezes the acting in a narrow space too small for the big screen. Maybe this movie works out in a better way as Netflix stream on Iphones. On the big screen it was disturbingly unsatisfying and a waste of the talents of the great actors Johannssen and Driver.

Seen at the Viennale 2019: Prof. Hausen, father of Dr. Schäfer's future fiancé rejects abortion as immoral. In contrast Dr. Schäfer openly advocates for a change in the law. The professors 'convictions are shaken as misfortune enters their own family. Topics such as unwanted pregnancy, sexual violence and the consequences of improperly performed abortions are placed at the center of the cinematic narrative within a surprisingly complex story to get to the point in a very elegant way. The bad guy, Hans Albers is brilliant, but so is the whole cast. If this one is in a cinema around you, definitely a must-see.

Seen at the Viennale 2019: You're looking for something to sit through? You are single and you are missing the senseless dialogue with a partner to convince yourself that you rather would be alone? You are longing for hours of loveless being? You want some time without any sensual input? And you want to see that in 4:3 videotape format? Maybe also some frozen ground with unconnected off-screen voice? You need a nap? If you tick all questions with yes than do yourself a favor and go for that movie!

Seen at the Viennale 2019: Luckily, Cohen had such a strong personality. Even a mixed combination of pictures, film snippets and interviews is not too boring. The lengthy documentary tells a novice Cohen fan enough interesting stuff that overall a plus remains by watching this right straight forward told life of Cohen, with the excuse main theme of his eight year relationship with Marianne. At the end you know some new facts about Cohen. But it remains in the fog, what Marianne wanted from life, apart from wanting him as her partner for a conservative relationship that he was never ever to deliver.

Seen at Viennale 2019: An early highlight of the Festival? This rockumentary catches my attention from the begin to the end. The way how thoughtful and intellectual Harvey visits all these places of different lifestyles is really impressive. Before her England record Harvey composed her songs from the inside out. With England she got her impressions from the outside of her own country. And for the next album she went abroad in the world. A very poetic access to countries we know from the newspapers as poor or war zones. Harvey goes to all this places and in every place she finds spirit for the better. Only at Republican Party's in Washington the string of believe in the power of human beings breaks. It is a shocking final in a beautiful movie with beautiful music. And gosh, what a fantastic voice PJ has to work with. She is gifted. And she uses her gift with touching humility. Highly recommended.

A very good attempt. The Marvel movies of today come closer to the strengths of comic books story telling: complex stories told on many narrative strings summing up to big finals. Digital art of today can provide the means to bring actors in real-live superheros feeling. A lot of this movie is to be liked. But the Marvel team should go back - one more time - to study further the story telling of the comic books. All good drawn stories do not go on with action scenes over pages and pages. That would be to boring and page-wasting for the reader. Action itself is done within very few pictures in comic books. One "wham!" and one "peng!". That's it. Nobody is interested in 10 pages of "wham" and "peng!". The needed action scenes are shortened in comic books (the fantasy of the reader jumps in) and the won comic book frames can be filled with in-between stories of love, hate, relation, politics, kisses, needings and longings of human beings universal told with the over-aggregated means of superheros. So please, reduce the time wasted on action scenes. Stay closer with the tellings of comic books. With each step the Marvel and the DC-teams go closer to the art of the telling in comic books, the better the movies have become. In Infinity War the grandios final would have been still more grandios with a reduction of the battle scenes to an absolute minimum. The first comic-movie that will dare to use an absolute minimum of time for battle scenes will come up with fantastic stories, I am sure.

Okay. The inspiration was Ragnarok, the old saga of the dying northern gods. Added are some jokes and a different outcome to get a happy end. As a long time comic reader a very disappointing experience. But I guess, for people who have grown up with Star Wars, the Hobbits and King of Thrones this new Thor movie checks all the boxes. A mixed bag of fantasy, science fiction, jokes and action. And inner struggles are shown in a populist easily accessible way. But for movies like this there are no established comic heroes needed. Make such a script for a pure fantasy movie, so I know, I don't have to go for it. Fantasy is a colorful, conservative told tale without any vision. It does not add anything to its characters that may ring a bell in me or gives anything in meaning to my life. Pure entertainment. But from my comic heroes I am used that they mirror my own struggles in life. The uncertainties, the trying of love, the trying of being a good one, all the lost hopes, and the regaining of hope. The longing for being alone, the longing to be together with others. The best comic super hero tales bring me to tears. Give new insight. Let me struggle further in my own life. But this Thor is just fantasy. Boring entertainment. Action happens, and after that another one. And then it's over.

I have seen Justice League the day before. Justice League went wrong. The script did not work out. But at least they tried. The characters (Batman, Superman) did not overcome their own gravity, could not get disconnected from their history in comics. Justice League failed, because the script was torn apart in its aim to get something right. But still, that is the essence of being human, too. To try and to fail. That bound my feeling for the failing of Justice League. That is something. But Thor did nothing with me. Absolutely nothing.

DC-Superheros are more important than Marvel's. With the creation of Superman and the contradiction that a superior being has no advantage whatsoever, because he is more vulnerable regarding friendships and family than a "normal" human, a mirror of humanity has been created that no other superhero delivers. So I always worry with Superman movies. The comics can deliver the side stories of humanity. The movies can not, because the producers always prefer the action and not the needed affection. The cast could deliver easily - some few scenes show it. But the script does not ask for many. But this movie is a must to see anyway. Every movie that shows Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman is a must. She delivers in a magical way - it is unbelievable how fantastic she looks, moves, speaks, inside out, outside in. I wish, a good social competent script for Superman. And a script with the depth of Logan:Wolverine for Wonder Woman.