Nobody would give one of their kidneys for moments like this, but they are still wonderful. Matthias Helwig, head of the Fünfseen-Filmfestival, brought the director and two main actors of the tragic comedy “Risks and Side Effects” onto the stage, and this conversation with Michael Kreihsl from Vienna, Inka Friedrich and Thomas Mraz is one of the funniest and most charming in a long time .
Also very funny in the film talk: director Michael Kreihsl
(Photo: Arlet Ulfers)
The three play the balls so easily, as if they had rehearsed for the performance. When Kreihsl describes the main location of his four-person play as “someone’s house”, “who can’t handle feelings”, Mraz counters: “Did you also say that to your friend” who owns the villa? ” Before that, Friedrich said that she once lived with Samuel Finzi in Berlin because he was sublet a room, with the actor who doesn’t want to donate a kidney to his wife in “Risks and Side Effects”. Kreihsl says with feigned disappointment: “I don’t even know about the flat share.” And at the end, when Helwig asked questions from the audience, Mraz joined in: “Somebody asked whether there was mulled wine.”
Charming chatters: The two main actors in the opening film, Thomas Mraz and Inka Friedrich, here with actress Aglaia Szyszkowitz.
(Photo: Arlet Ulfers)
Sure, the objection is justified. Around 11 p.m. it has long since become very cold in the seaside resort of Starnberg, of the roughly estimated 500 guests, maybe a third is left, most of them are covered with thick covers. And with all the luck that Helwig and his team have with the capricious weather at the opening of the 15th Fünfseen-Filmfestival: The beautiful summer evening “without anorak and without blankets”, as Helwig initially conjured it up, is in truth on Distance. But that’s probably just part of the big event, just as the tragedy goes hand in hand with the comedy in Kreihsl’s opening film: that cinema fans always have to suffer a little with all their luck.
Nevertheless, the sunbathing lawn with a view of the Alps, sailing boats, the silver-gray water and later on the moon shining out between the branches is the ideal festival area. For the anniversary edition of all places, however, the scenery has become smaller in size. The terrain is more closely circumscribed, which takes away the width of the space. The flying buffet is sparse, even the swans are turning away. From the band, the Kilian Sladek jazz trio, can hardly be heard from a distance because the loudspeakers are directed towards the lake. And the stilt walkers, who gave the square a touch of the art park last year, are missing this time. The glamor factor is also small. Who besides the presenter Marieke Oeffinger wants to freeze in their evening dress at the open air?
The guests also include the artist couple Johanna Bittenbinder and Heinz Josef Braun.
(Photo: Arlet Ulfers)
Still, a few gentlemen have appeared in bold jackets. The rose island Zille “Marie” with a blue canopy starts the romantic crossing again and brings Kreihsl, Friedrich and Mraz to the peninsula in the seaside resort at 6:58 pm, where six photographers are already waiting. And a number of well-known actors, directors, publicists and cabaret artists stroll along the flexible carpet, which is not red, but blue. Also there are Johanna Bittenbinder and Heinz-Josef Braun, Ursula Buschhorn, Felicitas Darschin and Oliver Rihs. The regular guests Johano Strasser, Franziska Sperr and Martina Neubauer (Greens) are there, as well as Otto Göttler, Josef Brustmann and the inventors of the new festival series “Kino & Klima”, Anne and Alexander Eichberger. District Administrator Stefan Frey comes with the slimmed-down Bundestag candidate Michael Kießling in tow, former District Administrator Karl Roth mingles with the guests in a very relaxed manner. If you don’t know that a two-week cinema festival is about to begin, you might think that a widely dispersed extended family has gathered at the white high tables, so familiarly the visitors chat with each other in groups.
Franziska Speer, Johano Strasser, Otto Göttler and Imke Peters are regular guests at the opening.
(Photo: Arlet Ulfers)
The speech is dictated by thrift. Helwig does not show up for the big review of the festival at around 8.30 p.m. and gives herself comments on culture and the pandemic. He prefers to talk about a film series that is particularly important to him, the “change of perspective” with classics like “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”, “The 12 Jurors” and “Rashomon”, all of which revolve around the fact that it is not just that there is a truth or just an opinion. And he says that this film festival will of course show beautiful pictures and tell exciting stories, but also aim to “improve the world a little bit” and take a stand on pressing issues such as the refugee crisis or climate change.
Even stubborn film fans might be a little afraid of these speeches. Because in between, the moderator Mareike Oeffinger and Helwig usually reel off the program in quick succession, which everyone could read, and tend to exaggerate. Then there is talk of “great” juries, the “wonderful” music of the jazz trio and the “pearls”, i.e. films that Helwig and his team have selected. On the other hand: A little clatter and show are just part of it. And when Oeffinger speaks of the “wonderful” exchange between filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts, there is heavy applause and cheers.
With the opening film, Helwig actually achieved a coup. “Risks and Side Effects” shows two marriages that are just fine appearances. Kreihsl cleverly plays with clichés. He develops wit, speed, wonderfully over-the-top to absurd punchlines and relies on fine dialogues with “ping-pong sentences”, as Inka Friedrich later says. You can get cold for that.