71 Fragmente einer Chronologie des Zufalls (1994)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 100 minuten
Alternative title: 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance
Country:
Austria / Germany
Directed by: Michael Haneke
Stars: Gabriel Cosmin Urdes, Lukas Miko and Otto Grünmandl
IMDb score:
7,1 (9.795)
Releasedate: 26 April 1995
71 Fragmente einer Chronologie des Zufalls plot
A student has to lay a Latin cross with a tangram. A childless couple gets a taciturn orphan. A concerned father inquires about his baby's temperature rise. An old man asks for his daughter's attention. Apparently these people have nothing to do with each other, but through a series of coincidences, at a very unfortunate moment, they meet in a bank building.
Actors and actresses
Marian Radu
Max
Tomek
Inge Brunner
Paul Brunner
Kristina
Hans
Maria
Hanno
Reviews & comments
sinterklaas
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- 11839 messages
- 3329 votes
A nice conclusion to the trilogy. Although I can't really see the term trilogy here. 71 Fragments was actually more of a mosaic film, indeed featuring a sequence of news clips (including many war images) and snippets from the ordinary daily lives of a few people. In addition, I found the parts with the Romanian boy (by the metro), the tangram, and the table tennis very impressive. Although I must admit that the film was very difficult to follow and that I am still thinking about the order of the story. The film also reminded me a lot of Haneke's later *Code Inconnu* and bears some resemblance to *Crash*. The final scene with the bank and the ending with Michael Jackson was also a very beautiful climax. So, it really revolves more around that 19-year-old boy who goes crazy and first takes it out with that table tennis and then starts stealing guns to shoot up half a bank as an idea.
Furthermore, 71 Fragmente... was not as disturbing as the other two of the trilogy; in fact, compared to them, this is quite a feel-good movie. Moreover, this one was also excellent, although I still need to think about the exact order.
4.0*
Translated from Dutch · View original
MaartenF
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- 112 messages
- 2451 votes
One of the worst films I have ever seen. I am a fan of films that are unique and try to distinguish themselves from the rest. '71 Fragmente' is certainly unique, but in my eyes, in a bad way. The film literally consists of 71 fragments that follow one another. You get a glimpse into the lives of various characters; for instance, you see a frustrated student, a woman who works at a bank, a homeless person looking for food, and so on.
However, it is all filmed in a very detached way, preventing you from really connecting with the characters. Not only that, but many scenes are boring and long-winded. I also had no idea what added value many of the scenes had. For instance, there is a scene where someone spends 5 minutes just playing table tennis. There is also a 10-minute one where someone is having a phone conversation. What these scenes add to the film is a mystery to me, and I must say that I almost fell asleep during both scenes.
It comes across to me as if they randomly recorded some fragments and then strung them together with the idea that a film could be made out of it. I understand what the film is trying to build towards, but the ending felt like an anticlimax to me and failed to make any impression on me at all (the entire film didn't, for that matter). It was also unclear to me why the student went to murder everyone, but perhaps that is the intention: to demonstrate the inexplicability of violence.
I do understand the message the film wants to convey: behind a simple news item lies a lot of drama that goes unnoticed, and after such an item, people simply go back to normal life. However, that does not alter the fact that the film is very boring to watch. In my view, a film is meant to be entertainment, and this simply does not 'entertain'.
Translated from Dutch · View original
starbright boy (moderator films)
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- 22749 messages
- 5355 votes
Stylistically, this one holds up well and is somewhat better than I remembered. Content-wise, I have a few minor issues that make this just barely the weakest film of Haneke's first trilogy. Many storylines are too pronounced to truly be a chronology of coincidence, as indicated in the title. Originally, the storyline with the homeless boy is the strongest in this film. But even there, Haneke goes off track a bit. With the not-very-believable progression where the boy is on TV and immediately gets a temporary adoption by people who saw him there. Even back then, people usually didn't make such a big fuss about a homeless child. It leads to a section where all sorts of statements are made to say something about themes like the influence of media and immigration, but it doesn't really work.. The other two films are simpler and somewhat more open. I'm sticking with 3.5, but instead of a solid one, it's a small one.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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