Opening 3 Mar 2005
Directed by:
Wolfgang Murnberger
Writing credits:
Wolf Haas, Josef Hader, Wolfgang Murnberger
Principal actors:
Josef Hader, Simon Schwarz, Joachim Król, Maria Koestlinger, Udo Samel
Directed by Wolfgang Murnberger, Silentium is a fast-paced murder mystery-comedy based on a novel by Wolf Haas. A suicide turns to a murder investigation when a woman (Maria Köstlinger) hires an off-beat private investigator (Josef Hader) to find the murderer of her husband. Her husband had recently accused a Catholic boarding school director of sexual misconduct against him and others during their youth while attending the school. With his sidekick Berti (Simon Schwarz), they go behind the scenes of the Salzburg festival and into the depths of the religious school to find out what really happened. The scene includes the high society, the musically artistic and high church members. The plot twists and turns include a few killings, virgins being forced into prostitution, corruption and many other memorable tidbits. This film is entertaining and there is a lot of humor packed into its main character, Brenner. The plot touches on the sexual issues of the Church which is quite common today but differs from reality when it strays from the legal line of justice. This film decides that it is okay to kill off villains of the church without even a peep from the heroes in the movie. What does that say about our morals of today? What happened to a fair trail? Oh well, it’s only a movie. This film also reminds me of the films that are being made for television. So despite the fact that it is full of wit and suspense, this is not a film that needs to be viewed on the big screen. Save your money and watch it when it hits the local television network. (Shelly Schoeneshoefer)
