Synopsis
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.
