Die Kinder Der Toten

It’s a tale as old as time — the dead have risen to eat the living — but DIE KINDER DER TOTEN is not content to stick to the formula.

From the eponymous epic novel by Elfride Jelinek (the writer of THE PIANO TEACHER), directors Kelly Copper and Pavol Liška have crafted a deeply complex interpretation of a story that had previously been considered unfilmable, and which remains to this day untranslated in English. Shot entirely without dialogue in the style of a Super 8 home movie, the film relies largely on a brass band score and heightened soundscape to create a peculiar, uneasy atmosphere. The result is hilarious, self-referential, and loaded with visual gags, zany characters, and political satire.

Both a pointed denouncement of Austria’s fascist history and a broader exploration of racism and social apathy, this challenging experimental work rewards patient and observant viewers with a singular experience that is at once joyful and absurd.

Even as DIE KINDER DER TOTEN wears its many inspirations on its sleeve (including but not limited to the French New Wave, found footage films, and of course NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD), this is an entirely original and profoundly memorable filmgoing experience. (LOGAN TAYLOR)