SCHMITKE (2014) - ♦♦♦

Directed by - Stepan Altrichter

Written by - Stepan Altrichter, Jan Fusek, Tomas Kocinsky

Starring - Peter Kurth, Johann Jurgens, Helena Dvorakova

"SCHMITKE borrows the name from its leading character, a middle aged German wind turbine engineer, one the verge of a midlife crisis. One day, he is dispatched to rural Czech Republic, and his experience there soon becomes nightmarish, surrealist and mysterious in a setting inhabited by sinister and shifty individuals. 

STEPAN ALTRICHTER's feature debut is exciting and as funny as it is legitimately suspenseful. It is full of creativity and some of its twists are down right surprising. 

Inspired by a satirical take on the themes of cultural contrasts, SCHMITKE is also enriched by an excellent leading performance by PETER KURTH, whose turn is coated by glorious awkwardness - a pure fish out of water. 

In its second part, Schmitke's story frustratingly seems to run in circles and finally tangles quite irrepairibly. But for the most part, it is greatly entertaining and constantly able to provoke the viewer's attention with its consistent descent into darker territories."

Comedy, Germany/Czech Republic