Directed By: Benjamin Heisenberg
Written By: Benjamin Heisenberg and Martin Prinz, based on the novel by Prinz
Starring: Andreas Lust and Franziska Weisz
Director of Photography: Reinhold Vorschnieder, Editor: Benjamin Heisenberg and Andrea Wagner, Production Designer: Renate Schmaderer, Original Music: Lorenz Dangel
Rated: Not Rated, but some violence, sex, and running.
The pounding noises of base give volume to the close tracking shots in The Robber, as we watch our protagonist Johann Rettenberger, run at his fast pace. In many ways, his running becomes a metaphor for the film. Each step is a beat, one foot closer to the end, and the scenery around him is changing, though the character stays the same. And Johann’s life story is certainly worth a cinematic experience, but possibly not in the construction that written-director Benjamin Heisenberg has constructed.
Noticed that while I described running in that opening, the film is in fact titled The Robber, which is the other profession that Johann can’t resist. And thus is the premise for the true story that follows in the film—a man who’s addicted to speed, and addicted to stealing. Mr. Heisenberg obviously has a great hook for a genre piece, but he also decides to use it as somewhat of a deconstruction of the genre. And in doing so, he parses the elements a little too much, like a similar European film, Anton Corbjin’s The American, to the point where besides the act of watching the character go through the motions, there’s not much to chew on.
