THE ROBBER

Directed by Benjamin Heisenberg
Germany/Austria, 97 minutes
Foreign/Drama/Thriller
Print Courtesy of Kino Lorber
TUES OCT 18 @ 7:45PM
Salem Cinema
WEDS OCT 19 @ 6:15PM
High Street

A quiet, engrossing and dynamic piece of filmmaking, The Robber’s main character, Johann Rettenberger, was inspired by the life of Austrian bank-robber and runner Johann Kastenberger, a man who set records in long- distance races while – in the rest of his free time – secretly knocking over bank after bank. Widely referred to as Pump-gun Ronnie,after the Ronald Reagan mask he wore and the shotgun used on the assaults, Rettenberger still holds the record time in the Bergmarathon, a famous race held in the Austrian Alps. Deprived of by-the-books psychological motivations and character development, The Robber paints a visceral picture of pathological compulsion and it is a rare character portrait that also excels as a high-speed, turbulent action flick. With his taut rhythms, poetic imagery and armed with a remarkable screenplay, writer-director Benjamin Heisenberg has crafted something as serious, quietly determined and surprisingly compelling as his criminal protagonist.

Filmography: At the Lake (01), Sleeper (05)