"Der Knochenmann" or "The Bone Man" is the third entry to the crime franchise starring Austrian actor Josef Hader. The director is Wolfgang Murnberger as always and the script comes from Wolf Haas, also as always. The first film came out back in 2000, the latest installment was released last year. But back to this one here. I truly enjoyed the watch and this film was just like all crime thrillers should be. First of all, there is lots of subtle comedy in here, from start to finish, which helps a lot in the movie not taking itself so serious. The title refers not to Hader's Brenner, but to the main antagonist played by Josef Bierbichler. Bierbichler is a complete scene stealer here and in my opinion,, he felt as much of a lead as Hader. Both are excellent actors of course and carry this film nicely, even if they do not really have that many scenes together. Bierbichler plays a butcher and restaurant owner, who gets in trouble with some scary guys, but finds his very own way of dealing with the issue. A touch of "Delicatessen". Enough said.
One perfect example of how this film combines comedy with thriller is when he goes off to get his chopper or cleaver in the end and Brenner says something like "No point in going away." as he obviously has no clue yet what Löschenkohl (Bierbichler) has on his mind. The script oozes creativity in the most absurd way, also with the way we find out in the end what happened to Horvath. I also really loved the contrast between the scenes that were shown at the same time: the wild party with loud music and everything that was going on at the slaughter room. It's a bloody film and there are some scenes that some may find disturbing, but I found it just harrowing in the most positive sense. One example would be the camera looking inside the car when we hear Löschenkohl approach with his car pushing the car wreck into the water. Great directorial effort there.
I have seen the first 3 films (including this one) a while ago already, but the fact how much I enjoyed this movie here and its characters and its story and its comedy motivates me a lot to give them a new watch and also watch the newest installment. I can only say that I wish more crime films were like this. Austrians sure have their very own approach to the subject and it's a wonderful one. Little downside, you may need subtitles even as a German as the accent is sometimes so thick that it's almost impossible to understand the dialogs. However, if you let this keep you away from watching the film, it is definitely your loss. 2 hours of great crime entertainment. Certainly grew on me upon rewatch, highly recommended.
One perfect example of how this film combines comedy with thriller is when he goes off to get his chopper or cleaver in the end and Brenner says something like "No point in going away." as he obviously has no clue yet what Löschenkohl (Bierbichler) has on his mind. The script oozes creativity in the most absurd way, also with the way we find out in the end what happened to Horvath. I also really loved the contrast between the scenes that were shown at the same time: the wild party with loud music and everything that was going on at the slaughter room. It's a bloody film and there are some scenes that some may find disturbing, but I found it just harrowing in the most positive sense. One example would be the camera looking inside the car when we hear Löschenkohl approach with his car pushing the car wreck into the water. Great directorial effort there.
I have seen the first 3 films (including this one) a while ago already, but the fact how much I enjoyed this movie here and its characters and its story and its comedy motivates me a lot to give them a new watch and also watch the newest installment. I can only say that I wish more crime films were like this. Austrians sure have their very own approach to the subject and it's a wonderful one. Little downside, you may need subtitles even as a German as the accent is sometimes so thick that it's almost impossible to understand the dialogs. However, if you let this keep you away from watching the film, it is definitely your loss. 2 hours of great crime entertainment. Certainly grew on me upon rewatch, highly recommended.