As part of the second edition of the watchAUT Austrian Film Festival this month, award-winning drama Eismayer makes its UK debut as one of Austria’s most anticipated upcoming films.
★★★★✰
Concealment of true identity and the all-encompassing fear of extreme hostility from others within your immediacy. Two devastating reminders for a closeted LGBTQ+ person to live with in daily life. Now imagine these highly discriminative qualities but situated in a military setting. Arguably, toxic perceptions such as: machoism and the perceived extreme masculinity of an average male soldier could leave limited room for a closeted LGBTQ+ person to thrive within the army. This is exactly what this new Austrian drama: Eismayer deconstructs throughout its poignant narrative.
Based on a true story, Eismayer follows Sergeant Major Charles Eismayer (Gerhard Liebmann) a closeted gay man serving as a brutal drill sergeant in the Austrian Army, a terrifying figure for new recruits. But then one of the recruits, an openly gay soldier called Mario Falak (Luka Dimic) enters his life, and a secret passionate romance blossoms.
Acting as the role of an average drill sergeant, Charles Eismayer is well-known in the army as a force to be reckoned with. His fresh recruits frequently dread his presence and stress over making even the slenderest mistake under his command. However, Eismayer’s consistent objective of shaping up the next generation of robust, masculine, and fearless soldiers ultimately impacts his true self-image, a repressed homosexual man. This intense personal dynamic is explored with profound and touching extent during the course of Eismayer’s runtime.
With an LGBTQ+ story at its helm, Eismeyer succeeds in depicting a complex yet fundamentally moving portrait of a person conflicted with his involuntary cruel persona as a drill sergeant compared to his actual individualism. Gerhard Liebmann fully excels in the titular role, through his balance of fury represented through his military persona, and tenderness when we view his quieter moments in his life. In the instances that demand his forged strict demeanour, inklings of compassion surface when face-to-face with his recruit, Mario Falak. Liebmann expresses both facets of Charles Eismayer with conviction and pure sincerity, constructing a fully fleshed leading character.
Luka Dimic plays Mario Falak with the same earnestness as Eismayer, except in Falak’s case, he acts as the spark that ignites Eismayer’s self-actualisation journey. Dimic perfectly represents Falak as a recruit who is fully comfortable with his sexuality amongst his peers, whilst serving as the primary stimulus for Eismayer’s conflict of self-imposed and true personas.
Performances do not singularly cement Eismayer as a compelling LGBTQ+ story, it is the direction that augments this drama piece. Life beyond his army position is when the film delves into Eismeyer’s own consciousness and his real ideals. Juxtaposed to his stern personality within the Austrian army, we view his calmer and empathetically-driven life as a family man and vitally, authentic enveloped LGBTQ+ identity. Without these gentler moments alongside Eismayer’s army life, the film would not strike as effectively as it does in illustrating his arc. This is because his immediate family in the narrative are portrayed in an inobtrusive style, devoid of the reliance of huge revelations or structurally-enforced moments in the screenplay. Eismayer steadily utilises its 87-minute runtime effectively to compel as much emotion from subtlety and skilful direction as possible.
Whilst Eismayer is beautifully communicated and achieves a sublimely paced narrative in just under an hour and half, with a significant LGBTQ+ perspective such as Charles Eismeyer’s, a touch more polish and padding would have benefitted the film. A touch more of the army’s perspective contrasting with Eismeyer’s identity and contempt against his self-actualisation journey could have formulated an incredibly powerful act of defiance against his prescribed authoritarian role. Notwithstanding these minor flaws, the film still succeeds in conveying a very touching and inspirational illustration of a magnificent true story.
The Verdict
Despite a short runtime, Eismayer shines as an LGBTQ+ drama with honesty and delicacy. The story of Charles Eismayer is depicted in a beautiful manner, providing a respectful celebration of the real life counterpart’s own journey and one that is worth experiencing.
Eismayer is set to make its London premiere at the watchAUT Austrian Film Festival on March 24th.