Cast

Karl Schwingenschlögl, Carmen Hausmann, Rudolf Hausmann, Conchita Klausner, Franz Klausner, Arceli Krieger, Michael Krieger, Hermann Rausch, Linda Rausch, Izel Schmid, Walter Schmid, Hermann Schneeweisz, Teresita Schneeweisz

Film description

Karl is a 43-year-old teacher. Previously divorced and wholly jaded by his relationships with Austrian women, Karl nevertheless holds out hope. Seidl follows his latest attempt to find the perfect mate – in an Asian bride catalogue. Karl deeply wants to make the right choice and so consults with other men who have gone through the experience. Will their expertise help? The process is expensive (matrimonial agency fees are high) but the potential rewards (Asian women are clean, don’t cost much to keep and work hard…) appeal to Karl.

The Last Real Men is a tragi-comic tale of men longing for the convenient patriarchy of the past. Pronouncing emancipation is a grimacing effort. They don’t clean, they don’t cook, but they do enjoy being served. Chatting over tea, they talk about their wives like other men might talk about their cars. Seidl doesn’t judge his subjects – these ‘real men’ provide pretty clear indications of where their values lie.

Prepared by: Anna Tatarska

Information about director

Ulrich Seidl

Multiple-award winning director, screenwriter, and producer Ulrich Seidl was born in Vienna, Austria in 1952. The graphics on his website flash descriptive adjectives: voyeur, misanthrope, cynic, social pornographer, blackguard, provocateur, pessimist, humanist. And although this is more Seidl’s ironic take on his media reputation rather than it is a declaration of artistic identity, there is no question that Seidl has been eliciting controversy since the very beginnings of his 30-year career. One reason is that he simply refuses to stay within genre formulas, especially when it comes to the boundaries between documentary and fiction, which is why his work has sometimes been called scripted reality. Those who prefer their cinematography clearly labeled and defined have been left both confounded and irritated. What’s more, Seidl most often works with amateur actors and does his filming on locations rather than sets. The director, who has been compared with Fassbinder, Herzog and Pasolini, describes his own work as the polar opposite of wedding photography – his goal is to capture what is least esthetic, most shameful, and acutely painful. But, though his perspective might seem harsh at first, what ultimately comes through his carefully composed imagery is a deeply human approach to all the people and characters he chooses to portray.

Filmpography

1980 Metr czterdzieści / Einsvierzig / One Forty (doc., short)

1982 Bal / Der Ball / The Prom (short)

1984 Look 84 (short)

1990 Good News: o roznosicielach gazet, martwych psach i innych wiedeńczykach / Good News: Von Kolporteuren, toten Hunden und anderen Wienern / Good News: Newspaper Salesmen, Dead Dogs and Other People from Wienna (doc.)

1992 Spodziewane straty / Mit Verlust ist zu rechnen / Losses to Be Expected (doc.)

1994 Ostatni prawdziwi mężczyźni / Die letzten Männer / The Last Real Men (TV, doc.)

1995 Obrazy na wystawie / Bilder einer Ausstellung / Pictures at an Exhibition (TV, doc.)

1995 Zwierzęca miłość / Tierische Liebe / Animal Love (doc.)

1997 Miłośnik biustów / Der Busenfreund / The Bosom Friend (TV, doc.)

1998 Zabawa bez granic / Spass ohne Grenzen / Fun without Limits (TV, doc.)

1998 Modelki / Models

2001 Upały / Hundstage / Dog Days

2002 Stan narodu / Zur Lage / State of the Nation (doc.)

2003 Jezu, Ty wiesz / Jesus, Du weisst / Jesus, You Know (doc.)

2006 Bracia, weselmy się / Brüder, laßt uns lustig sein / Brothers, Let Us Be Merry (segment in The Mozart Minute)

2007 Import/Export

2012 Paradies: Liebe

Prepared by: Anna Tatarska

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