October November
by Götz Spielmann
In a small village in the Austrian Alps there is a hotel, now no longer in use. Many years ago, when people still took summer vacations in such places, it was a thriving business. Two sisters grew up here.
Sonja now lives in Berlin. She has become an actress, very successful, a TV star. She made a career for herself very quickly: she is still only in her early 30s. She has achieved a lot in this short time - but something seems to be missing from her life. She keeps a distance from people, as if protecting herself in this way. She goes through phases of sadness. Apart from her work and her professional attitude towards it, she always seems a little lost. Homeless.
Her sister Verena, who is a little older, has never left the village. After their mother died in an accident she, her husband and her little boy moved into the former hotel, which is much too big for them. But Verena's needs are not as modest as this may suggest. A secret affair with the local doctor brings out a passionate discontent in her, a longing for a different life.
The father of the two sisters also still lives in the former hotel. Still a patriarch, he has grown old and surly. His wife is dead, the hotel out of business. It's autumn, a beautiful October, and the leaves on the trees behind the house are richly coloured.
Then a major heart attack brings him close to death.
He survives, but from now on he is a sick man.
And for Sonja it is high time to visit her family once again, and the scenes of her childhood.
A new chapter begins; old relationships are reconfigured.
The reunion slowly but relentlessly brings to light old conflicts between the so very different sisters. Each of them seems to envy the other. Did they really take the paths in life they wanted to follow? They are in the middle of their lives, but have they yet recognised the most essential aspect of that life?
And then there is the father: so strangely changed. He, of all people, has abandoned his stubborn, harsh attitude towards the world around him. A new serenity emerges from him. As if the realisation that death is close has turned him into a contented human being.
But there is still one secret that oppresses him, something that still has to be done. He knows that he has to act now, for he no longer has much time left.
So that by the time he is lying in the throes of death, and the two sisters keep watch at his bedside, many things have changed.
And it has become November; soon winter will descend upon the land...
A new clarity, a deep reconciliation has entered into the lives of the two sisters.
Born in 1961 in Wels, Upper Austria: grew up in Vienna. Began writing while at school, mostly plays and poems. First film work. After high school spent several months in Paris. 1980-87 studied at the Vienna Film Academy - screenwriting and directing. Two medium-length films received first international prizes. 1988 assistant director in the theatre, spent a long period in New York. Screenplays. From 1990, in rapid succession, numerous films for the cinema and television, the most internationally successful being DER NACHBAR. 1994 retreated from filmmaking for several years. Read, thought, taught acting, wrote poems, watched movies. Spent a long period in Berlin.
2000 returned to films with the drama DIE FREMDE and the television film SPIEL IM MORGENGRAUEN. Established himself in 2004 with ANTARES as one of the most important Austrian autor filmmakers, also abroad. Work in the theatre. Founded his own production company.
Guest lecturer at numerous German film schools. 2008 REVANCHE. Several international awards, including Berlin Film Festival, Palm Springs, Motovun, Monterrey. Nominated for "Foreign Oscar".
More theatre work. Birth of daughter Hannah. 2011 Professor at the Vienna Film Academy, head of the scriptwriting class. 2013 OCTOBER NOVEMBER. Enjoys living in Vienna.
FILMOGRAPHY:
2013 OCTOBER NOVEMBER
2008 REVANCHE
2004 ANTARES
2001 SPIEL IM MORGENGRAUEN (TV-movie)
2000 DIE FREMDE
1994 DIE ANGST VOR DER IDYLLE (TV-movie)
1993 DIESES NAIVE VERLANGEN (TV-Movie)
1991 DER NACHBAR
1990 ERWIN UND JULIA
1987 VERGISS SNEIDER!
1985 ABSCHIED VON HÖLDERLIN (short film)
1984 FREMDLAND (short film)
Nora von Waldstätten - Sonja
Ursula Strauss - Verena
Peter Simonischek - Vater
Screenwriter and Director Götz Spielmann
Director of Photography Martin Gschlacht
Editor Karina Ressler
Sound Heinz K. Ebner, Uve Haußig (Berlin)
Production Designer Katharina Wöppermann, Susanne Hopf (Berlin)
Costume Designer Erika Navas
Make-Up Artist Susanne Weichesmiller, Jenny Popova
Casting Lisa Oláh
Sound Design Bernhard Bamberger
Sound Mix Bernhard Maisch
Production coop99 filmproduktion, SpielmannFilm
Producer Martin Gschlacht, Antonin Svoboda, Bruno Wagner, Götz Spielmann
Format: DCP / 1:1.85 / Dolby 5.1
Original language: German
Length: 116 min.
ORIGINAL TITLE: Oktober, November