“Marz” (“March”)

An Austrian film set in a small town near Innsbruck.

The film opens with the suicide of three male college students as they rig the exhaust pipe of their car, allowing them to succumb to the carbon monoxide. We don’t really get to know these individuals (in fact, we barely even see them) as an audience and so it is difficult to develop any feeling for the aftermath, which this film focuses on.

This is a tale of how these stoic families and friends deal with the death of their loved ones. A stagnant and stifling film because there is no forward movement enabling the characters (or us, the viewer) to come to terms with their grief. One scene which best represents this film is when the mother of one of the boys agrees to meet with another affected surviving family member to discuss their feelings... they meet for coffee and cake and can only comment on the ingredients of the cake.