Prince Of Peace

Prince Of Peace

Synopsis

"Changing reality into reality. But don't ask me which one into which. No points, no questions. Coming closer. Loving to see.

See lovingly. Dancing. Can dancing be sad? Okay, no questions. A dead friend." – Hans Scheugl

"The entrance to a men's toilet in an underground pedestrian passage in Vienna. Church bells are heard in the distance.

In a merciless editing rhythm, anonymous men are brought ever closer to the opaque glass door, in rhythmic stanzas they are sucked ever deeper inside the room one can't see into. In between there are photos from a pornographic magazine, in which a tattooed Saviour is placed in a direct connection with the sexual intercourse between two men – all to the sounds of ghastly brass band music. 'Prince of Peace' is written under the Redeemer's face.

Questions: Are bells an impetus or do they represent a Catholic background? Are the refrains telling of a real, existing grey zone, or do they illustrate the imagination? Does the Prince of Peace stand for redemption from a hopeless situation, or for macho-pathos which has got under one's skin too deep? And are the atonal streams of light and sound which emanate from the toilet door at the end repulsive or attractive?

Above and beyond this: oppressively profane, unadorned materialism, the everyday underground, cheap gloss, plain language (simply by covering up naked facts with white paper). At the end, a dedication to a dead friend." – Claus Philipp