Blutsauger

Members of a reading circle are discussing Marx: is the capitalist a vampire-like being, feeding on the blood of workers to create surplus value?

The year is 1928, and we’re at an estate on the German Baltic coast. The actor Lyovoshka has fled Russia and is posing as ‘Baron Koberski’. Octavia, an industrialist’s daughter, soon unmasks him. But he’s allowed to stay while he awaits a visa for America − Lyovoshka wants to make it in Hollywood. In the meantime they make a vampire film, with an Asian man playing the vampire and Octavia his victim. But who are the real bloodsuckers?

Although the playful, political vampire comedy Blutsauger is set in 1928, it’s full of witty anachronisms: a can of Coca Cola, kite surfers and a modern motorcycle. In addition to Marx, Radlmaier refers to Eisenstein (“I prefer working with Vertov”, a colleague of Lyovoshka’s quips) and the Russian Revolution. According to another character, the fact that that revolution had unforeseen consequences doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try it again.