Abendland

Just as in his début film Verhängnis, Kelemen penetrates deep into the lost souls of his characters in Abendland. Anton, who for years has lived with Leni, cannot get away from the threat, fear and doubts that have penetrated the world at the end of the twentieth century. He sinks deeper and deeper into lethargy. Leni still believes in a life that is not ruled by work and materialism. Love, trust and sensuality are for her the opposites of the constructed world around her and the mood of doom that Anton has spun around her. In the film, Anton and Leni spend the night separately, which inevitably results in a confrontation with themselves and their loneliness. Their journey through the night is interrupted by several encounters that bring their deepest desires and feelings to the surface. At the end of their nightly odyssey, they find each other again with more certainty and less illusions. Kelemen uses the same uncompromising film style as in Verhängnis and Frost. He uses long takes and an uneasy lighting to create a barren and threatening atmosphere that reflects the mood of his characters. The great power of Abendland is how he evokes their inner world with visual means and makes it tangible. It is a story about love, not one filled with illusions, but as it comes to an end and only then gains some real meaning.