Tempo

This film is the cinema debut of Austrian Oscar® winner Stefan Ruzowitzky. Made in 1996, it is set in the Viennese youth milieu and is briskly and amusingly staged. A rave movie about a barely 18-year-old runaway who hires himself out as a bicycle messenger, spins himself into exciting daydreams during his rides and is finally no longer able to distinguish between reality and fantasy. His experience with music videos made it easier for Ruzowitzky to visually capture the frenzied rhythms and pounding beat in a film cut that seems almost stroboscopic to the audience. The tempo of the rave also determines the lifestyle of the protagonists.

"The time of heroes is a bit over." STEFAN RUZOWITZKY