The Robber

For the 1781 German play, see The Robbers.

The Robber
Directed by	Benjamin Heisenberg
Produced by	Nikolaus Geyrhalter Peter Heilrath
Written by	Benjamin Heisenberg Martin Prinz
Starring	Andreas Lust
Cinematography	Reinhold Vorschneider
Editing by	Andrea Wagner
Distributed by	Thimfilm (Austria) Zorro Film (Germany)
Release date(s)	15 February 2010 (2010-02-15) (Berlinale) 26 February 2010 (2010-02-26) (Austria) 4 March 2010 (2010-03-04) (Germany)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	Austria Germany
Language	German

The Robber (German: Der Räuber) is a 2010 drama film directed by Benjamin Heisenberg. The film is based on a novel by the Austrian author Martin Prinz, and was shot on location in Vienna. The main character, Johann Rettenberger, is based on Austrian bank-robber and runner Johann Kastenberger. The film was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival.^[1]

Plot

Johann (Andreas Lust) is a convicted felon and marathon runner who has been paroled from prison for attempted armed robbery. Upon his release he meets a young social worker, Erika (Franziska Weisz), with whom he begins a relationship. After moving in with her, he commits several armed bank robberies with a shotgun, disguised with a mask.

Johann goes on to win several marathons with record times, and is congratulated by his parole officer. His parole officer is concerned that Johann is not cooperating with him, and tries to reason with him after a marathon. Enraged, Johann bludgeons his parole officer to death with his trophy.

Erika eventually finds Johann's loot under his bed and asks him to leave, but not before telling him that change is possible.

Johann moves out, but is soon apprehended by the police, having been turned in by a heartbroken Erika. After being handed a confession to sign, Johann breaks out of jail through a window and leads the police on a cross country manhunt on foot. He takes refuge in the house of an old man, and during the process of tying him up, the old man pulls a concealed pocket knife and stabs Johann deeply. Johann takes the old man’s car, switches cars with some motorists at a rest stop, and seemingly evades the police. Johann’s wound turns out to be fatal, as he is losing consciousness behind the wheel. Just before he dies, he phones Erika and begs her not to hang up as he slowly expires.

Cast

• Andreas Lust as Johann Rettenberger
• Johann Bednar
• Gerda Drabek as Bankangestellte
• Max Edelbacher
• Walter Huber as Beamter
• Markus Schleinzer
• Peter Vilnai
• Franziska Weisz as Erika
• Florian Wotruba as Markus Kreczi

References

1. ^ "60th Berlin International Film Festival: Programme". berlinale.de. http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/2010/02_programm_2010/02_Programm_2010.html. Retrieved 2010-10-16. 

External links

• Official Website (Austria)
• Official Website (Germany)
• The Robber at the Internet Movie Database