The Rebellion

Andreas Pum, a World War I veteran who lost a leg in combat, is granted a license by the Empire to play a barrel organ. But after a violent confrontation with an upper-class gentleman, he begins a downward spiral through the social ranks, eventually ending up as a toilet cleaner in a café. Before rising to international acclaim as one of contemporary cinema’s great auteurs, Michael Haneke directed several television dramas. This early work, based on The Rebellion by Jewish author Joseph Roth, was restored last year. Haneke’s signature style, restrained and meticulous, is already present, yet the dramatic structure allows real emotion to emerge, particularly in the tension between the detached narration and the stoic, compliant face of his protagonist. As always with Haneke, there is no redemption; not even at society’s margins; but his unsentimental look at the postwar condition remains as gripping and relevant as ever.