Abstract
The Austrian telefilm offers an alternative theory about the attack in Sarajevo that unleashed the First World War in 1914, through the chronicle of an investigation of that attack carried out by an examining magistrate. He does it with the usual dryness of Austrian fiction and with a parsimony that nevertheless accumulates tension and manages to maintain interest until the end.
Review
In 1914, Bosnia-Herzegovina was an imperial province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In June of that year, during an official visit to Sarajevo, its capital, Crown Prince Francisco Ferdinando of Austria and his wife were killed in a street attack by young Bosnians, an incident that gave rise to nothing less than the First War. World. The scope of the conspiracy that allowed it was never fully clarified. This Austrian telefilm is a chronicle of an alleged investigation carried out by a Serbian-Bosnian examining magistrate to clarify the motives and those ultimately responsible for the attack.
The Austrian film Andreas Prochaska proposes a revisionist thesis on the conspiracy, in a film made on the occasion of a century after that attack and the beginning of the First World War.
Examining magistrate Leo Pfeffer (an undaunted Florian Teichtmeister) leads the investigation commissioned by Vienna and overseen by the local military commander and police chief. From his point of view, we look at aspects of the Austrian administration of its "imperial provinces" (actually annexed-occupied countries) with its discriminatory treatment of Serbian Slavs and Jews and its summary justice. There is also no shortage of local millionaires who support the regime. The conspiracy theory put forward by the film, which is progressively revealed by Judge Pfeffer, raised controversy at the time.
Sarajevo exhibits a successful re-enactment of the period, the typical dryness of Austrian fiction and a parsimonious rhythm that nevertheless manages to accumulate tension and maintain the viewer's interest until the end.
The Austrian telefilm offers an alternative theory about the attack in Sarajevo that unleashed the First World War in 1914, through the chronicle of an investigation of that attack carried out by an examining magistrate. He does it with the usual dryness of Austrian fiction and with a parsimony that nevertheless accumulates tension and manages to maintain interest until the end.
Review
In 1914, Bosnia-Herzegovina was an imperial province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In June of that year, during an official visit to Sarajevo, its capital, Crown Prince Francisco Ferdinando of Austria and his wife were killed in a street attack by young Bosnians, an incident that gave rise to nothing less than the First War. World. The scope of the conspiracy that allowed it was never fully clarified. This Austrian telefilm is a chronicle of an alleged investigation carried out by a Serbian-Bosnian examining magistrate to clarify the motives and those ultimately responsible for the attack.
The Austrian film Andreas Prochaska proposes a revisionist thesis on the conspiracy, in a film made on the occasion of a century after that attack and the beginning of the First World War.
Examining magistrate Leo Pfeffer (an undaunted Florian Teichtmeister) leads the investigation commissioned by Vienna and overseen by the local military commander and police chief. From his point of view, we look at aspects of the Austrian administration of its "imperial provinces" (actually annexed-occupied countries) with its discriminatory treatment of Serbian Slavs and Jews and its summary justice. There is also no shortage of local millionaires who support the regime. The conspiracy theory put forward by the film, which is progressively revealed by Judge Pfeffer, raised controversy at the time.
Sarajevo exhibits a successful re-enactment of the period, the typical dryness of Austrian fiction and a parsimonious rhythm that nevertheless manages to accumulate tension and maintain the viewer's interest until the end.