Michael

Gripping Story Of a Paedophile from Austria.
Sometimes I wonder at why I decide to watch certain films and this falls into that particular category. It is about Michael (Michael Fuith) who has kidnapped ten year old Wolfgang (David Rauchenberger), he keeps him locked in a sound proofed room with uber brilliant security in his basement. By day he is a mealy mouthed insurance sales man at a local call centre, then at night he turns into a sort of special uncle / step father to his captive. He acts like he is the father and goes through the rigours of everyday domesticity with his victim as if he were playing out a normal role, like setting the table for dinner and doing the washing up.

Poor Wolfgang is clearly traumatised by the whole thing but is sort of resigned to playing along, probably in the hope of less brutal treatment. We never get to see the actual abuse, but this is none the less powerful for it, perhaps because we are left to fill in the gaps, it appears worse, if that was actually possible. The abuse is...

quietly chillingly cold
Michael Fuith was excellently cast. His facial features personified his mental workings and was perfect for the part. Man and boy expressed themselves in an understated fashion which made their inner states unnerving as we know and sense there has to be more than they are telling. Having to read between the lines pulls the viewer into the film.For some this may cause dissatisfaction.
There is nothing black or white about Michael. In fact he has kindness. But he has a perversion to supply. Nothing personal kid..Yet he is also an appalling creep. There is one scene where a song on the radio has the power to imbue him with normalacy but without escaping the sinister cast of his features. Creepy because it is a reversal of a socio-path demeanor
The boy child actor is convincing as one who must weigh acts of consideration against more wrong than he realises. The lack of his parents almost too huge to comprehend was infectious.
About 2/3 of the way I realised the scenario...

gripping, intelligent, engaging
This is an intelligent approach to an important issue that society needs to deal with in a grown up way. I applaud the writer and director for finding a nuanced means to contributing to this conversation. Michael is an intricate and involving cinematic experience put to good use, to get the viewer to examine his own feelings towards the protagonists and ultimately themselves. It does not channel our emotions (heavy doses of hatred and desire for retribution in my case) nor give them a release but leaves us suspended until we communicate our thoughts about it in the real world, as I am doing now. I think the film will last with me for some time, it was a dark little corner of the world to visit.
I am wary of other reviews that interpret the film as concerning the suspicions of people around you, I don't think the aim is to make us paranoid, if anything to be more involved with the world and the people within it so that privacy and disinterest cannot be a de facto excuse for abuse.

Click to Editorial Reviews