Himmel und Erde

Michael Pilz's stubborn exploration of life in the Upper Styrian mountain village of Sankt Anna is one of those rare works that make you step into the world with a more alert eye. This is also due to the fact that the film surrenders unconditionally to the barrenness and time perception of the landscape as well as the people living and working there, and yet does not hide the fact that someone is filming here who brings his own thoughts and feelings to this landscape. In the first part Pilz devotes himself to the structure of this society, in the second he increasingly questions this order. It becomes clear that the way of life and work between humans, animals and mountains is threatened with extinction. The monumental nature of the film has nothing to do with its length, it is an expression of its unmistakable echo. (Patrick Holzapfel)