Knittelfeld: A Town Without A History

To the inconspicuous images of a colorless small town, director Gerhard Benedikt Friedl has a narrator recite an abysmal family tragedy in a relaxed narrative tone. The fact that Knittelfeld, as claimed in the title, is a "town without history" is part of the cinematic understatement with which Friedl handles his real-life grotesque: To the confusing images of a colorless small town, he has a narrator recite an abysmal family tragedy in a serene narrative tone. The documentarian practice of visually authenticating a statement turns out to be a dazzling illusion. (Filmarchiv Austria)