'Hinterland' (whose alternative title, 'Home Front', is I think more appropriate) is a very stylised film. It is set in 1920s' Vienna, a city with, apparently, more than its fair share of shadows and to which the right-angle is a stranger: buildings lean at crazy angles, floors tilt and windows are rarely perfectly square. Ordinarily this type of artiness would annoy me, but while it is strictly unnecessary here, it certainly adds to the atmosphere.
A group of Austrian soldiers, newly-released from a Russian prisoner of war camp, return to post-World War One Austria to find a newly-minted republic with politics and attitudes they do not recognise, populated by people who see them as something of an embarrassment (a comparison with American soldiers returning from Vietnam could be made). While having to cope with extreme poverty and broken marriages, a more immediate danger presents itself: their number is whittled down by a murderer who employs methods that would turn the average villain in 'Midsomer Murders' green with envy (gnawed to death by rats, anyone?) Fortunately the group's leader, Perg (Murathan Muslu, who has a very nice facial profile) is a former murder detective who is quickly co-opted by the police to investigate the case, helped by feisty female pathologist Theresa (Liv Lisa Fries) and bright-eyed young detective Severin (Max von der Groeben). The story trots along at a fair clip, with regular murders and new clues holding the viewer's interest in the central mystery, while Perg's marital difficulties - should he return to the wife he has not seen since the first day of the war? - and burgeoning romance with Theresa provide character development. There is even a bit of comedy when Perg and Severin encounter a homosexual.
And then we reach the solution, where the creators seem to lose the nerve in evidence when they designed the extreme look of the film and instead fall back on tired old cinematic tropes: the lead detective's deep personal connection with the case, the false solution, the long-lost relative... all of these supposed revelatory plot twists are telegraphed, well in advance, with all the subtlety of a flashing neon sign. It all feels like rather a let-down.
Having said that, I would recommend this film for its look, for the acting and for most of the plot. The viewer must be prepared for the final fifteen minutes not to live up to the promise of the preceeding ninety, but this is still a memorable production that will bear repeated viewing.
A group of Austrian soldiers, newly-released from a Russian prisoner of war camp, return to post-World War One Austria to find a newly-minted republic with politics and attitudes they do not recognise, populated by people who see them as something of an embarrassment (a comparison with American soldiers returning from Vietnam could be made). While having to cope with extreme poverty and broken marriages, a more immediate danger presents itself: their number is whittled down by a murderer who employs methods that would turn the average villain in 'Midsomer Murders' green with envy (gnawed to death by rats, anyone?) Fortunately the group's leader, Perg (Murathan Muslu, who has a very nice facial profile) is a former murder detective who is quickly co-opted by the police to investigate the case, helped by feisty female pathologist Theresa (Liv Lisa Fries) and bright-eyed young detective Severin (Max von der Groeben). The story trots along at a fair clip, with regular murders and new clues holding the viewer's interest in the central mystery, while Perg's marital difficulties - should he return to the wife he has not seen since the first day of the war? - and burgeoning romance with Theresa provide character development. There is even a bit of comedy when Perg and Severin encounter a homosexual.
And then we reach the solution, where the creators seem to lose the nerve in evidence when they designed the extreme look of the film and instead fall back on tired old cinematic tropes: the lead detective's deep personal connection with the case, the false solution, the long-lost relative... all of these supposed revelatory plot twists are telegraphed, well in advance, with all the subtlety of a flashing neon sign. It all feels like rather a let-down.
Having said that, I would recommend this film for its look, for the acting and for most of the plot. The viewer must be prepared for the final fifteen minutes not to live up to the promise of the preceeding ninety, but this is still a memorable production that will bear repeated viewing.