ANGST (1983)

 

(Director/co-screenwriter: Gerald Kargl. Co-screenwriter / cinematographer/ editor: Zbigniew Rybcynski)

Storyline

A recently-released-from-prison, nervous psychopath breaks into a house and terrorizes its three adult inhabitants.

 

Review

Supposedly “based on a true story,” ANGST is a memorable, impressive German film for the most part. Its docudrama style was ahead of its time, its starkly shot and lit style later seen in films like HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (1986) and MAN BITES DOG (1992). The acting in ANGST is excellent, especially Erwin Leder as the twitchy K, the Psychopath. His sweaty, bulging eyed gaze and clenched jaw fills much of this eighty-six-minute feature with an unsettled feel, aided by Zbigniew Rybcynski’s always-roving, sometimes jerky camerawork and extreme close-ups, off-set by shots of open rural country. K’s narration of his horrible childhood and subsequent prison sentences prior to his most recent release is illuminating, damning of society and its justice system, and bleakly humorous (psychiatrists refuse to declare him insane, something he clearly is).

The violence is brutal in some parts (particularly the bloody death of the twenty-something Daughter, played by Silvia Ryder, billed as Silvia Rabenreither). Its violence is not as grim as that of HENRY but it’s harsh compared to the slick, Hollywood style of many horror films.

What makes ANGST less than perfect is its long takes, which seem to be intentional, perhaps to further throw off the viewer, giving one a sense of what it feels like to be inside K’s head (he circles people and things even when his intentions are evident). The film runs about a half hour too long, so those used to short-take, efficient tale-telling editing may find Kargl and Rybcynski’s style irritating. That said, this jarring, distinctive and often effective chilling take on the almost-rabid K is one worth viewing at least once, if one doesn’t mind its excessive, fleshed-out-into-a-feature length.