Drama: “Fuchs im Bau”: Pennäler behind bars

drama
“Fox under construction”: Pennäler behind bars

You hardly see them in the first shots: the bars that separate the young protagonists from freedom. students to learn. Not just where Styria is located.

Also, and above all, how they come to terms with their own past, with their missteps. Because “Fuchs im Bau” tells of the world of juvenile delinquents and the people who take care of them.

The drama, inspired by the experiences of prison teacher Wolfgang Riebniger, seems almost documentary. It tells about Samira, maybe sixteen, short hair, who put her own father into a coma.

The prison class under the care of Ms. Berger, who is as committed as she is somehow deranged, is not that big. And yet there is almost always unrest: “Camele driver” calls a student across the rows of seats, “Nazi” another.

But Mrs. Berger (Maria Hofstätter) has the class under control – which is because she has been doing the demanding job for 25 years. And because she doesn’t stick to the strict rules, lets the kids draw a lot and sometimes prepare a tray full of apple strudel.

Ms. Berger, however, is too old, she can no longer do the stressful job; a new teacher (embodied by Aleksandar Petrović) is needed. The students have a lot of fun humiliating the eponymous Mr. Fuchs properly at first. Director and author Arman T. Riahi (“The Migrants”) only slowly gives us a glimpse of the fact that he, too, is suffering from trauma.

The drama also has a prominent cast in the second row: with Sibel Kekilli (“Against the Wall”) as the prison lawyer and Andreas Lust (“The Robber”) as the “Department Commander”. The Austrian production received several awards in 2021 at the Max Ophüls Prize, which is quite important for German-language cinema.

Fuchs im Bau, Austria 2020, 102 min, FSK from 12, by Arman T. Riahi Arman, with Maria Hofstätter, Aleksandar Petrović, Sibel Kekilli

dpa