User Reviews

I love to see films at film festivals. And I love films in my native language, which is Bavarian. But not too many such films made, and most of them are not really worth to watch, as often the actors are not capable of the required language, and the stories are weak.

So I was very pleased to read that director Marcus H. Rosenmüller's latest film "Räuber Kneissl" would have its premiere at the 26. Munich Filmfest on June 24, 2008, with a 2nd screening in the afternoon of June 26. I got tickets for that screening, on a sunny warm afternoon, in a sold out (yes, you have to buy tickets for the screenings of the Munich Filmfest) movie theater, unfortunately lacking of air condition. Festival director Andreas Ströhl welcomed us, announcing that he obviously isn't director Marcus H. Rosenmüller, but he asked us to stay in our seats after the film, as some members of cast and crew were in the audience.

The story of the thief and outlaw Mathias Kneissl is common knowledge in Bavaria, but for the rest of the world - here is a short description, loosely based on the version on the website of the Munich Filmfest: Mathias Kneissl (Maximilian Brückner) was a legendary bandit, a folk hero, in turn-of-the-century Bavaria. Born into a poor innkeepers' family as the eldest of six children, he and his brother Alois (played by Maximilian's real brother Florian) often go poaching with their father. When their father is beaten to death while being arrested, Alois fires at the policemen and both young men are sent to prison even though Mathias is innocent. Six years later, as a free man, Kneissl resolves to lead a respectable life and on visiting the rest of his family in Munich, he meets the love of his life, his cousin Mathilde. His past, however, soon catches up with him and the authorities, one policeman in particular, make life harder and harder for him. 'Once a criminal always a criminal'. He didn't do like Robin Hood in England 'Steal from the rich, and give to the poor', he simply needed to steal to survive. So Mathias decides to emigrate to America with Mathilde. If he can't make an honest living at home in Bavaria, he'll do so elsewhere. But in order to raise the money they need for the passage, he has no choice but to turn to crime for a last time. The beginning of a tragic ending... Bavarian historical stories are always entertaining, but hardly ever have a happy ending.

I laughed a lot during the film, cried a lot at the end, and I wasn't the only one shedding a tear then! It was really good to see a good film, in a language I understand with out thinking about. The acting is superb; it comes naturally, so the director's work isn't noticeable. It is almost like the Bavarian version of a Western, and with a nod to a particular scene from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". The film's leading actors Maximilian Brückner and Brigitte Hobmeier are such a convincing couple (it sure helps that they look great together, but also match the looks of the 19th century), their feelings for each transport into the audience, almost like real. The film got applause during the screening and a lot at then end.

A real story, a great script, a director and team who had a great commitment to the project, well thought about locations, what more can a film fan like me expect? Well, more of the same please!

Lights went on, and the festival director brought Maximilian Brückner up on stage, who shyly accepted the applause, and then brought another of his brothers, who is also in the film, and his little sister who in the film also plays his sister on stage with him. They greeted each other with handshakes which caused a round of laughter from the audience.

Then followed a Q&A, which will go down in history as one of the shortest of its kind. Due to the nature of the film and location of the screening, it was done in Bavarian, but since the comments here have to be in English, I'll use sort of a translation instead:

Maximilian about his siblings being in the film with him: "It is not that we are like the Mafia, but our director Marcus H. Rosenmüller thought it would fit that we all are in it."

The sentence "De Woch fangt ja scho guad o" (something like "The week really begins on a high note") of the real Mathias Kneissl before he was executed is very well known throughout Bavaria, and it is said in the film, but not by Mathias. Maximilian: "I pestered the director to be permitted to say it, but he insisted that it would fit better elsewhere, and in the end, he was right."

To his sister and brother: "Do you want to say something?" Apparently they didn't want to.

And to the audience: "If you have questions, you can ask them now." Only silent sweating (remember – no air-condition!)

"No one?" Well, it is hot today, so we all can go home now."

Which we all did, after giving them another round of applause.

I wonder if they will dub "Räuber Kneissl" ("Bavarian Outlaw") in German or attach German subtitles when it will reach German screens.

I finally had a chance to see this movie; the movie theater was almost sold out, despite the fact that the movie already opened at the end of August. Not only did I enjoy the movie, but also the company of all those other people sitting there with me in the dark, and also enjoying the movie without playing with food or cell-phones.

Its look is old-fashioned in the best possible way, without looking outdated, the actors were chosen very careful and really match the required looks of the time, as do the locations. Maximilian Brückner as Mathias Kneißl bursts of energy and lust for life, but also brings the violent temper and the inner torments of this character to life. He doesn't want to steal, and definitely not kill, but circumstances drive him to these unfortunate actions.

Kudos to the director, that he shows Maximilian's well defined body only in moments when Kneißl is so out of luck, that skin is not the important part in these scenes. Maximilian Brückner and Brigitte Hobmeier look and act great together, it shows that they had previously worked together on stage, so their trust in each other is genuine. The supporting parts are also well cast, namely Thomas Schmauser as Gendarm Förtsch, whose body language reveals what is boiling inside him.

According to a recent interview with director Marcus H. Rosenmüller, only half of the filmed material was used, mostly due to time limitations, so hopefully some of the other half will be part of the future DVD version.

It is a great movie, writers and director have done their homework on using all possible original sources, and only made small changes to the story, so that even those who are not familiar with that part of Bavarian history, can follow and enjoy!

"Räuber Kneißl" is a German(-language) live action film from 2008, so this one will soon have its 10th anniversary. The director is Marcus H. Rosenmüller and the writers are Christian Lerch and Karin Michalke, the latter of which has worked with Rosenmüller on several occasions. As always with Rosenmüller, there is lots of talk in Bavarian accents in here, so catch a set of subtitles if you don't understand the dialect. The lead actor here is Maximilian Brückner and overall I would not say that he was good enough to let me really care for the Räuber. Other semi-famous names here are Furtwängler, Prückner, Fitz and Schwarz, but even these will probably only be known to huge film buffs. Luckily for the audience, the very limited Dr. Furtwängler does not have a lot of screen time as she was very much style over substance in everything I have seen from her and that was actually quite a bit. No idea why people consider her a talented actress and she is still landing lead roles.

Back to this one here: The story has some good moments, some not so good, but as a whole I would say there weren't really enough interesting scenes and moments so that I would say this was a convincing watch. It also does not deliver on the emotional scale as much as I hoped it would. Rosenmüller usually has at least a bit of comedy in his movies, but this one here is the exception that confirms the rule I guess. Anyway, I personally have to give this film a thumbs-down, but then again I am yet to see a film by the director that really impresses me. Excuse my bias, but this is not it. Watch something else instead.