Notes from the Basement

2000

1h 30min

“While striking various poses around his apartment, [Haindl] addresses an imaginary public, his speeches ranging from defiant to contrite. Each one shows a different side of his personality, from political grumbler to poet in a slouch hat. His monologues deal with the usual prejudices, such as those against women and foreigners, and none of them can be reduced to a single coherent point of view. Commonplaces are qualified with contradictions and self-irony, and his tirades occasionally swerve in the direction of serious analysis. The state of pandemonium which characterizes the Austrian soul is depicted as a labyrinth of rhetoric.” –Dominik Kamalzadeh