Close Up

1 - 8 February 2018: The Seventh Continent

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The Seventh Continent
Michael Haneke
1989 | 104 min | Colour | Digital

Addressing themes that would inform much of his later work – the breakdown of society, violence and the media – Haneke's first theatrical feature is a disturbing portrait of familial disintegration which he describes as a depiction of his native Austria's "progressive emotional glaciation". Set over a three year period, it documents how the mundane day to day routines of a middle class family alienate them from the world and each other until, suddenly and shockingly, their lives self-destruct. The Seventh Continent presents a disturbing portrait of middle class life in a manner reminiscent of early Fassbinder.


Part of the Glaciation Trilogy, screening as part of our Michael Haneke retrospective