It may seem strange that Austrian cinema is not well known to the public, apart from two famous film episodes: «Commissar Rex» about a German shepherd and her police owner, and Princess Sissy with Romy Schneider in the leading role. We wrote about the latter earlier.

History

In the thirties of the twentieth century, Austria was highly dependent on the German market: Austrian producers often made their films according to the wishes of German distributors. Although this method of production was successful and profitable, it is difficult to talk about the development of Austrian cinema during this period.

The 1950s: Devastation, war films and cute comedies

The Austrian film industry was slow to recover from the Second World War, and not only lacked staff, but also film material. Many buildings and streets, including studios and cinemas were destroyed.

These years of Austrian cinema are in many ways similar to Soviet cinema: on the one hand, the limited resources of the Austrian film industry, and on the other, if films were made, they were all about the war. The paradox was that these films were often not to the public's taste, and some even spoke of a «fiasco of Viennese cinema».

Major Austrian film companies were confiscated in the past by the German Reich and then by its allies. For example, Wien-Film, Austria's largest film company, went to the Americans after the war, and the Rosenhügel film studio was in the Soviet occupation zone. Even today, almost the entire distribution system in Austria is under the control of major American film companies.

In 1945 the popular film magazine «Mein Film» was reintroduced - but only to a limited extent due to a shortage of paper as well as many other items. From 1949 the magazine «Filmkunst - Zeitschrift für Filmkultur und Filmwissenschaft» was published. This film magazine stopped publication only in 1997, and was apparently the longest-running German-language film magazine.

Meanwhile, Austria became a popular location for West German films in the 1950s: no wonder a number of directors and actors emigrated to West Germany.

As well as Heimatfilms and musical comedies, the 1950s saw a boom in the adaptation of operettas. Musical comedies also reached their peak in the first half of the 1950s. Rejected by critics and ridiculed by intellectuals such films, however, were most enjoyed by the public. As a rule, the directors of these productions did not promote any aesthetic innovation, but delighted the average Austrian audience with their traditional productions. In the 1950s, few people were prepared for a new twist.

Music comedies were often about the luck and fortune of the average Austrian's life. Some examples are the films «Two in the Car» with the well-known actress Johanna Matz; the film «Die Försterchristel, Hannerl» and the operetta «Die Perle von Tokay». In the early 1950s, Schönbrunn Film Company produced several hit films: «Hallo Dienstmann», «Der alte Sünder» (1951), and the story of the Viennese folk singer Fiakermilli.

In addition to musical comedies, crime films like «Arlberg Express» (1948, directed by Eduard von Borsodi) and the critically acclaimed «Prämien auf den Tod» (1949, directed by Kurd Jürgens) were actively filmed.

A unique and unusual production in the history of Austrian cinema is the 1952 science-fiction film «1 April 2000», which tells the story of Austria's declaration of independence and the subsequent outrage of the «Commission for Peace». It is surprising, of course, to realise that this liberation took place just three years after the film's release - well before the millennium.

Avant-garde movement

In 1955 television came to Austria. By 1957 television programmes were being broadcast 6 days a week. The competition, caused by the spread of tv broadcasts, made film producers realise that their productions could no longer be sold with the same success as before. By the way, the American film industry responded immediately by introducing new production techniques. Technical changes were soon adopted by the Austrian film industry as well.

By 1956, the production of feature films had reached an unusually high level. In the 1960s, there were attempts to counter the decline in cinema attendance by involving international colleagues. Many Italian, German, French and American production companies with actors and directors, were hired to produce replicas of successful foreign productions like the James Bond films.

With the decline in popularity of Heimatfilms, so-called avant-garde cinema gained recognition and popularity - all thanks to the work of Peter Kubelka or Kurt Kren, who are now internationally famous and are among the founders of the genre.

After the failure of comedies, operettas and films «about the homeland», film sales decreased by the end of the 1950s. Austrian film production continued to decline into the 1960s.

The first avant-garde post-war films, far different from the monotonous comedies and operettas, were Herbert Vesely's «Und die Kinder spielen so gern Soldaten» (1951) by Franz Kafka and «An diesen Abenden» (1952) by Trakl.

In 1951 Wolfgang Kudrnofsky created a film that had never been seen before. He presented a 15-minute review of Edgar Allan Poe «The Raven». This was followed in 1955 by the first 16-minute experimental film by Ferry Radaks, Peter Kubelka and Konrad Bayer, «Mosaik im Vertrauen» (Mosaic in secret).

Far from the commercial film business and the usual distribution system, some young and unknown filmmakers also tried to make films. But as productions were financed with their own funds or with subsidies from the local municipality and the federal government, most films were made in 8mm or 16mm film format. They had little chance of being screened in cinemas. These independent directors included Herbert Holba, Karl Kases, Franz Nowotny, Franz Josef Fallenberg and Michael Pilz.

Among the famous avant-garde filmmakers were Peter Kubelka, Franz Novotny, Ernst Schmid, Ferry Radax, Kurt Kren, Vali Export, Otto Muehl and Peter Weibel. Some of them identified themselves as Viennese actionists. The most famous was Vali Export. Especially expressive was her 1968 action on the occasion of the so-called «Marasiade» (from the word marasmus) of «young cinema», when she presented herself as a walking cinema, dressed in a wooden box. This wooden box had two holes for the hands of «cinema-goers». She called the project «Tapp- und Tastkino». After this action Vali Export and co-initiator Peter Weibel had problems with the authorities.

Also in 1968, a group of avant-garde filmmakers founded the «Austrian Filmmakers' Cooperative». The aim of this association was to promote the films of its members. However, some films were not exactly adapted to the traditional sense of film-making: Hans Scheugel's «ZZZ Hamburg Special», for example, played a line on the screen for the entire duration of the projection period. With the control of the projectionist, the line could move, but the audience could not know about it and therefore wondered if it was a film, or if the thread was actually running through the projector.

These years also represent a period of activity for Peter Kubelka. His films «Adebar» (1957), «Schwechater» (1958), «Arnulf Rainer» (1960) and «Unsere Afrikareise» (1966) won the «Grand Austrian State Film Prize» in 1981.

The films «Memento mori» (1968) and «Reflexion» (1970) by Edith Hirsch and Sepp Jahn were both hailed as special achievements of alternative cinema. With the support of the Ministry of Education, the film «Moss on the Stones» by Georg Lhotsky was produced in 1968.

© Foto: Ernst Haas / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek

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