DER SEBENTE KONTINENT
Michael Haneke
Austria 1989
104 min.
German with subtitles
35mm

Haneke’s disturbing and provocative feature debut shows the dark underside of a young and seemingly “normal” family. It begins as a study of the family’s highly repetitive lives, taking its time establishing the characters’ daily patterns, and eventually moves to a powerful, shocking conclusion. As in his later films, Haneke’s intentions are not readily apparent, and it’s best to know as little as possible about the story before it begins. This is the first installment in Haneke’s trilogy about the nature of contemporary violence, followed by Benny’s Video ( screening Friday, Dec. 8 ) and 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (screening Friday, December 15).