Austrian director Gerald Kargl only made one film, Angst. If you've seen Angst you know that this is a crying shame, and among the finest one-hit wonders that cinema has ever known, right up with with Charles Laughton's single directorial effort Night of the Hunter.
Angst is a masterpiece or terror, the kind of film that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go, even long after the credits have rolled. The fact that it is the work of a film industry transient is amazing, and the fact that he has spent the last thirty years of his career in advertising (whether by choice or not) makes me extremely sad.
Angst is a story based on a real life Austrian spree killer who invaded a secluded home outside of Vienna and tortured and killed its three residents while on leave from a prison sentence. The real character, Werner Kniesek, was in jail for the killing of an elderly woman, and at the end of his sentence was allowed three days leave to set his affairs in order before his full release. It was during this leave that his compulsion to kill overtook him and he ransacked a home and murdered its occupants.
Kargl's retelling of the story incorporates large sections of Kniesek's tale, along with smaller details from two other famous German killers, Peter Kurten and Fritz Harmann, the latter of whom was the basis for Fritz Lang's masterpiece, M. Angst's protagonist, K, is released from prison on a short leave, during which he breaks into an isolated home, waits for its occupants to return, and then brutally murders and violates them.
While at a quick glance, the story doesn't seem like enough to hang an entire film on, Kargl's style and relentless energy makes Angst something truly exceptional.
There is very little dialogue in Angst, in fact, however, there is a running interior monologue from K explaining his innermost thoughts and desires in a way that is both disturbing and compelling. Angst is almost like a piece of experimental theater, always pushing at the edges of what is acceptable and expected, and from time to time violently bursting beyond those points to deliver a completely new experience. Several years before John McNaughton's Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer burst onto the scene and delivered a new level of depravity to cinema screens, Angst delivered a similar, if not even more disturbing look inside the mind of a madman.
There is no way to distill Angst's successes into single, bite sized sentiments. The film succeeds on all fronts. Erwin Leder's unhinged performance as K, the killer possessed of a singular focus on causing pain and destruction, is a thing of frightening beauty. With a minimum of dialogue he delivers a performance of unbridled power, diving into character with full force, leaving no questions as to K's intentions in his wake. The accompanying narration which mixes stories about K's troubled upbringing with interjections of pure insanity as he attempts to wrap his head around the actions he must take to complete his night's work, is both terrifying and engrossing. This narration brings us into the world of K without the safety net of a flashback, never breaking stride in his headlong charge toward oblivion.
As one act of impulsive savagery gives way to another without so much as a breath in between, we are with K for the ride, for better or for worse. It's a cliché that maniacs act upon the directions of the voices in their heads, but the voice within K's head, the one that forces him into all manner of perversion and destruction, is his own, and that is perhaps even more frightening than those that might be able to blame their madness on others, even if they aren't real. Much like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, or Haneke's Funny Games, Kargl's direction, and the conscious decision to keep him in the frame for 99% of the film, makes the audience complicit in the actions on screen. At any moment we could look away, both K and Kargl seem to dare us to do so at every opportunity throughout the film, but we just can't. Humans are hard-wired to watch as things go from bad to worse, especially when there's not a damn thing we can do about it.
If Angst were only successful on this abstract level, it would be scary enough, but the film is also remarkably technically accomplished for a first time director. Kargl, along with his cinematographer Zbigniew Rybzcynski, perform miracles with the camera. One particular trick, a circular harness that straps around Leder's body as he flies from place to place in a frenzy of bloodlust, does a remarkable job of keeping all eyes on him and thrusting the audience into the most unsettling bits of action. Add to that the pulsating synth score from Klaus Schulze (onetime member of Tangerine Dream), and you've got the technical skills to match Kargl's innovative and powerful directorial approach to this remarkable material.
Angst is a film that is certainly not for the faint of heart, but for those of you who are ready for an intense experience, you've got your work cut out for you. Cult Epics does the world a great favor by releasing this film on a beautiful Blu-ray disc with wonderfully restored audio and video.
In addition to that, there is a massive number of quality bonus features that I couldn't help plowing through as soon as the credits rolled on the film. There is a commentary with director Gerald Kargl and moderated by film scholar Marcus Stiglegger, a veteran of many commentaries, including fine work here and with Germany's Camera Obscura, there is an archival interview with Kargl conducted by Jorg Buttgereit, and an interview with cinematographer Zbigniew Rybzcynski, the technical wizard behind Angst's innovative POV shots, and most entertaining to me, there is a 20+ minute interview with Edwin Leder about the film and his career. Leder's interview is fantastic as he obviously has a great affection for this film, and is quite the eloquent speaker, even when hunting for just the right word in English. In addition to the interview, Leder also takes us on a truncated location tour of the film, which proves quite entertaining. Lastly, though first on the disc if you want to be picky, is an introduction to the film by Gaspar Noe, the controversial director of films like Irreversible and Enter the Void, who describes Angst as one of the masterpieces of the '80s.
One element of this release that I would love to highlight is the massive 40-page booklet. The insert booklet is largely a dying medium, however, I love it because it allows me to take my curiosity with me to places where watching the disc just isn't possible. Cult Epics' booklet for Angst is not only huge, but absolutely packed with interviews with cast and crew, rare photos, and most interestingly, numerous newspaper clippings from Austria regarding the Werner Kniesek case and its aftermath. I think it is beautiful, and before I even put the disc in the player, the booklet had me sold. Huge thanks to Cult Epics for providing this wealth of information in a time when it seems that many companies are phasing booklets out.
As you can no doubt tell, I loved Angst, and Cult Epics' release is essential for any fan of extreme cinema. Buy it now!
