The Hold Up

Colour, 35mm
Austria, 2000, 85 min
Section: Horizons - Awarded Films

Synopsis

Florian Flicker (b. 1965) lives and works in Vienna. His first film, Halbe Welt (1993) brought him recognition as well as awards at a number of festivals. His second film, Suzie Washington, about a Georgian woman trying to get to her uncle’s in the United States, was voted Best Austrian Film of 1998.

About the director

Andreas is a total loser. His wife has left him, he’s lost his job and although it’s his son’s birthday he doesn’t even have a present for him. He’s seen loads of movies where a crook in a clown mask goes into a bank and comes out with a sack full of money. And this becomes his plan. The only problem is that he lives in Austria and not in an American film full of cold-blooded criminals. This Austrian crook, an amateur dressed as a clown, panics even before he can draw his gun. After his rather pathetic and unsuccessful attempts to first rob a bank and then a grocery store, Andreas ends up at a small corner tailor’s. But what was intended as a lightening-quick assault turns into a trap in which the crook is confined along with the hostile tailor and his customers. The whole street is surrounded by police and Andreas has to make the best of a situation in which even an armed criminal isn’t always the one in control. This brilliant comedy succeeds thanks primarily to the witty dialogue and the performances of the three lead actors.