Ursula Strauss
- 2008
A happily married couple becomes unlikely friends with a man whose life has been marked by chaos and violence in this drama from Austria. Alex (Johannes Krisch) is a small-time criminal who after a stretch in prison finds himself working for Konecny (Hanno Poeschi), who run a grimy house of prostitution; unknown to Konecny, Alex is also involved with Tamara (Irina Potapenko), one of his whores. Wanting to raise some quick cash, Alex robs a bank in a nearby small town and hides out on a farm owned by his grandfather (Hannes Thanheiser) while he waits for the heat to cool down. Alex tries to keep a low profile while waiting for Tamara to join him in the country, and he's troubled by boredom and despair, but his mood brightens when he strikes up a friendship with Susanne (Ursula Strauss), a cheerful and generous woman who lives nearby. But Alex's new friend happens to be married to Robert (Andreas Lust), a member of the local police force. Revanche was screened as an official entry at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johannes Krisch, Ursula Strauss, (more)
The death of a schoolteacher leads to a reunion between a handful of close friends in this drama from writer and director Barbara Albert. Five longtime friends return to the town where they grew up for the first time since they were teenagers in order to pay their respects to a teacher who had a major impact on their lives. However, fate has taken the five women in very different directions since they left school. Carmen (Kathrin Resetarits) has become a working actress, Alex (Ursula Strauss) is a clerk at an unemployment office, Brigitte (Birgit Minichmayr) works as a schoolteacher, Nina (Nina Proll) is out of a job and anticipating the birth a baby is two months, and Nicole (Gabriela Hegedus) has fallen into a life of crime and has been given a furlough from prison to attend the funeral, with her 12-year-old daughter Daphne (Ina Strand) in tow. As the women look back at the possibilities of their youth, they must also consider the circumstances which led them where they are today, and the bonds of friendship which still hold them together despite the physical distance between them. Falling was screened in competition at the 2006 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nina Proll, Birgit Minichmayr, (more)
The seemingly random interactions between a group of people touched by a tragedy go under the microscope in this drama from Austrian filmmaker Barbara Albert. Manu (Kathrin Resetarits) is a woman who miraculously survives an airline crash caused by a freak storm that claims the life of every other passenger on board. Six years later, she's happily married to Andreas (Georg Friedrich), has a teenaged daughter named Yvonne (Deborah Ten Brink), and works at a supermarket -- only to die suddenly in an auto accident. Among the mourners at Manu's funeral are her brother Reini (Martin Brambach) and sister Gerlinde (Marion Mitterhammer). Schoolteacher Reini is infatuated with a troubled woman named Sandra (Bellinda Akwa-Asare), and is trying to reach out to one of his students, Kai (Dominik Hartel), who is haunted by the death of his mother. Andreas becomes involved with another teacher, Andrea (Ursula Strauss), who also has an unhappy student, Patricia (Désirée Ourada), an outcast with an interest in spirituality. Patricia strikes up a friendship with Kai as he drifts away from his girlfriend, Gabi (Nicole Skala). Meanwhile, Yvonne becomes ill and ponders her mother's fate in the hereafter, and Gerlinde becomes involved in an emotionally destructive sexual relationship with a handicapped man. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathrin Resetarits, Ursula Strauss, (more)
