Review of Michael (2011) by Robyn N — 19 Mar 2013

Australian director Markus Schleinzer's first feature is a markedly cold, matter-of-fact depiction of five months in the life of a practicing pedophile who has imprisoned a 10-year-old boy in his soundproofed basement. Schleinzer's film is a story heavily anchored in controversy, which, through revealing very little, has traversed sensationalism and created one of the most provocative and alarming art house features of recent years.

Michael (Michael Fuith) is a thirty-something unmarried insurance agent who, by necessity, meticulously keeps up his domestic ritual. A white-collared office worker by day, Michael keeps to himself, shying away from human contact until he returns home after work. Behind his suburban home's mechanical steel shutters, and a soundproof basement door, Michael is holding a 10-year-old boy (David Rauchenberger) captive--and apparently has been for some time. Much of the film takes place in the house they inhabit, both as prisoners; the boy-literally and Michael--captive to his perversion. "Michael" is most affective however when young Wolfgang is away from the screen. Schleinzer sporadically removes us from Wolfgang's suburban prison to observe Michael clumsily attempt to integrate himself into society. Whether he's out trying to 'find' a companion for Wolfgang, or on an awkward work skiing trip, it becomes agonizing to watch.

The sexual encounters between Michael and Wolfgang are sparse and brief, with Schleinzer unwilling, and obviously unable to depict the acts of molestation in a graphic nature. The directors handling of such scenes are representative of Michael as a whole - we as an audience are always left to fill in the blanks. Never displaying anything outright shocking, it remains suitably restrained and left to your imagination.

Ultimately, "Michael" hinges on the subtlety and believability of its characters. Without such performances, the film could easily have been little more than a slice of shock cinema. Fuith is not just a convincing predator, but all the more crucially a convincing human being, driven by motivations outside of mere sexual gratification. "Michael" allows itself and its characters to slowly develop over its runtime so you get not just the immediate impression of how reprehensible this man is, but to really get a sense of the depth of his insanity.