That’s All There Is

In September 1988, George Tabori, who was then director of the Vienna Schauspielhaus and set up the ‘Theater Der Kreis’ there as a laboratory with open workshops modelled on The Actors Studio, engaged the theatre and film director Jack Garfein to stage four plays by Samuel Beckett (Ohio Impromptu, Catastrophe, What Where, Nights and Dreams). Garfein himself was an important protagonist of the Actors Studio and taught, discovered or worked with actors such as Bruce Dern, Ben Gazzara, Steve McQueen, Ron Perlman, Sissy Spacek and Shelley Winters. Michael Pilz was invited to document Garfein's work in Vienna and accompanied the rehearsals with his camera over a period of six weeks. The result, mounted 17 years after the shoot, is not only a masterpiece of patient, fascinated and unobtrusive observation of great, passionate talents at work, it is also a rare example of Michael Pilz, a visual artist by nature, realising the transformative power of the spoken word (this time, exceptionally, with subtitles) just as congenially on film. (Jurij Meden)

Vienna premiere in the presence of Michael Pilz

30-minute break after part 1 at approx. 20.30

Photo: Austrian Film Museum