Take „Mountain Blood,“ an ambitious tale of love and war set in 1809 Tyrol (now a part of western Austria). For Philipp J. Pamer, this scrumptious looking homage to the traditional German mountain films, with colorful costumes and gorgeous location photography, was his graduation film. „Very authentic kind of film,“ Eggers said. „The filmmaker tries to incorporate the real dialects that are spoken in the village where he filmed. A very unusual first feature film.“
San Francisco Chronicle about MOUNTAIN BLOOD: „Very authentic kind of film“
San Francisco Bay Guardian about MOUNTAIN BLOOD („Bergblut“)
„One such gem showing this weekend, Philipp J. Pamer’s two-hour-plus Mountain Blood, is the sort of thing even veteran commercial talents might have a hard time getting bankrolled. It’s a 19th-century epic shot high in the Tyrolean Alps, involving romantic and military intrigue between sophisticated Bavarians and rough-edged Tyrols during a period of attempted French occupation. Eggers allows that kind of budgetary challenge would be „unheard of here for a first feature, but in Germany you can pull it off.“
San Francisco Bay Guardian
San Francisco Film Society about MOUNTAIN BLOOD („Bergblut“): „The most ambitious and accomplished student film in history.“
Die renommierte San Francisco Film Society würdigt Bergblut als einen besonderen Film und als wohl ehrgeizigsten Studentenfilm der Geschichte:
The brochure describes Mountain Blood (Bergblut) as Philipp J. Pamer’s graduation film. In that case, he’s made the most ambitious and accomplished student film in history. Mountain Blood is a historical romance, a period piece and a costume drama rolled into one. Shot mostly in the South Tyrol Alps, it should look breathtaking on the Castro’s mammoth screen.
The movie begins in 1809 and tracks the eventful, chaotic early years of the lifelong love affair between Katharina and Franz, a wealthy, polished Bavarian girl and a rough-hewn Tyrolean carpenter. An act of violence compels the couple to flee over the mountains to Franz’s rural family, where the resourceful Katharina has to adjust to no-frills farm life.
Peace is short-lived and their lives are thrown off-course by, first, war, and then a rebellion against French and Bavarian soldiers organized and led by the innkeeper Andreas Hofer (an actual historical figure). No entrails are gored or bodices ripped in Mountain Blood, alas; Pamer has written a smart screenplay full of concise, precise dialogue that steers clear of pulp.
Bergblut-Premiere in San Francisco!
Mountain Blood – German Gems 2011
Sunday, Jan 16 6:30p, at Castro Theatre, San Francisco, CA, USA.
In the tradition of German mountain films Philipp Pamer’s drama tells the story of love and war, loyalty and betrayal, suspicion and jealousy. The year is 1809. Following her husband from Augsburg to Tyrol, Katharina has to adjust to a harsh life on a small farm where she is not only an outsider, but an outcast. Her husband came back to fight with Andreas Hofer for South Tyrol’s independence against France and Bavaria, Katharina’s homeland.
Shot on location in South Tyrol, MOUNTAIN BLOOD is Philipp Pamer’s impressive graduation film.
Sunday 6:30 pm MOUNTAIN BLOOD Bergblut (Germany 2010, 35mm, 122 min. In German with English subtitles)
DIR Philipp J. Pamer CAST Inga Birkenfeld („Kinder des Sturms“) , Wolfgang Menardi, Anton Algrang („Valkyrie“) , Verena Plangger FESTIVALS Munich (Audience Award).
DIR Philipp J. Pamer CAST Inga Birkenfeld („Kinder des Sturms“) , Wolfgang Menardi, Anton Algrang („Valkyrie“) , Verena Plangger FESTIVALS Munich (Audience Award).
