CIFF 2010--The Robber

Here is another film I saw at the 2010 Chicago International Film Festival. It is from Austria. A convict leaves prison after serving time for bank robbery. His parole officer cautions him to value his freedom and not do it again. While in prison, Johann has done nothing but run. In fact, as soon as he leaves prison he wins a marathon, and robs a bank. This seems to be all he does, run and rob. Running comes in pretty hand to evade the law. He also meets a woman he knew when they were much younger, Erika. He of course hides his current crime activity from her.


While the metaphors of running are strong throughout, there was barely any backstory to Johann or his relationship with Erika, which could have made this a more emotional film. As it is we are very curious about Johann.  The role was well-acted by the lead actor, who actually had little dialogue, so his portrayal was through his face and body/running/action (or at least, the body double if there was one). I rated this four out of five stars.