The Gstetten Saga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl​ – Contextual Analysis 1
Introductions … [~1 minute]

Episode Goals … [~30 seconds]

Today, we’ll be analyzing the 2014 Austrian sci-fi/fantasy film, ​Die Gstettensaga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl​. In this podcast, we’ll dive into the “contextual” detail of the movie’s elements, as well as the history of its production and it’s background. We’ll also be discussing moments in the film that personally captured our attention and that we think relate well to the course’s materials which we’ve been reviewing for the past few weeks.

Narrative Summary … [2-3 minutes]

For narrative context to the film, we’ll run through some pieces of the plot to give you an idea of what this movie was about. “In the early 21st century, tensions had grown between earth’s remaining two superpowers: China and Google. These two, along with many other countries, are dragged into a new world war known as the ‘Google Wars.’ The reason the rest of the world got involved was due to the numerous allied treaties between nations. This led to the world becoming engulfed in nuclear warfare which heavily wiped out portions of humanity. After years of waiting for the radiation to settle, small pockets of civilization began to emerge, creating a New World order. Inside one of these populations located just east to the foothills of the Alps, in the middle of the Danube River, was Mega City Schwechat – where our two protagonists, Fratt Aigner and Alalia Grundschober, live. He’s a journalist, she’s a technician. Both come from very different backgrounds, but live economically similar lives. They are both tasked by Thurner Von Pjölk, the man who invented the printing press and runs the only newspaper around, to go to ​Niederpröll​ to ​seek out and host a televised interview with Echsenfriedl, someone who has many fans in the New World’s nerd communities. Advanced technologies are somewhat controversial in the New World, especially to a man like Pjölk, who fears that this technology and the people who tinker with it will be bad for his business and the monopoly he’s amassed. After our two protagonists are sent out, we learn more about the differences between them as well as the world around them. In their travels, they (and us along with them) come across different communities, learn new and different languages, and discover more about the backstory to the New World. Now, I won’t go into detail about the ending of the film in order to avoid any major spoilers, but the film does have its twists and plot points that are given throughout the storyline that heavily alter your conception of what is true in the film and what is not. ​Die Gstettensaga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl​ is honestly quite meta and offers a fun and different look about how culture and technological advancement plays a role in humanity’s growth. Not just in their world, but ours as well.

Cultural and Historical Background … [12-20 minutes]

Early acceptance of film in the Austrian-Hungary empire at the beginning of the 20th century. Wanderkinos, or wandering tent cinemas spread throughout the country and showing a diverse set of films exposing Austrians to global cinema, as well as Austrian and German made films. Erika Cinema in Vienna built in 1900 and stood until 1999, making it the oldest and longest operating national cinema. Very popular in classic Austrian cinema to portray popular cultural myths and legends, as well as historical dramas from a past Austrian golden age. Large numbers of Austrian expats relocating to Hollywood after the Second World War, including Fritz Lang and Billy Wilder. Industry became overshadowed by west german films in the mid sixties, and the industry did not resurface really until the mid seventies. Revival of the industry with socially conscious films in the 1980’s, gaining Hollywood recognition and putting Austrian cinema back on the map.http://www.austrianinformation.org/current-issue-spring-2013/2013/5/13/a-short-look-at- a-legendary-history-the-austrian-film.html​Dramatic discrepancy between the stars country has produced, (Lang, Wilder, Schwarzenegger) and the country’s reputation as a national film powerhouse, due to the ever changing geographical boundaries of the country in the past century, and a lack of a unified country for much of the first half. Highly multicultural industry due to this ever changing geography, and drawing influences from many of the major film movements

This multicultural characteristic of the industry is very evident in the film’s cultural vastness. Throughout the film, the main characters encounter various post-apocalyptic communities and languages (one of which is fictional). But at the forefront of the film is this interesting portrayal of nerd culture and hacker culture.

● Nerd culture typically defined through a deviation from mainstream activities and quirky, introverted, intellectual characteristics

○ This is evident in the film pretty directly seen as nerds are an important part of its narrative

○ Nerd culture as an idea is woven into film through means such as its use of chiptune and synth-heavy music, which imbues the film with sense of nostalgia and futurism fitting for its subject matter

• ●  Nerds are also associated with having an affinity for technology, science fiction, or fantasy
• ●  Technology specifically plays a large role in the film in the form of hacker culture
• ●  Hacker culture is defined by an interest in mechanical problem solving that can lead to clever, limitation defying results
• ●  Idea of “hacks” comes from acts of playfulness originally in the form of pranks
  • ○  Interestingly, this concept is present within the film both diegetically and non-diegetically
  • ○  About 16 minutes into the film there is a text overlay that states: This viewing copy is provided for awards consideration only. And then provides a phone number one could report infringement to
  • ○  The film first premiered on live television and calling the phone number resulted in the caller being charged by the minute
  • ○  This is just one example of the way the film runs with its ideas in a self aware way
• ●  There is also this complexity to the role of hackers when it comes to political power structures and the film actively questions this role with a specific focus on it in relation to capitalism
• ●  Lastly, the role of media in the film draws from cultural understandings and associations certain types of media have

○ Print media (newspapers/”tabloid”) associated with Thurnher von Pjölk who desires to kill off the nerds for their lack of interest (sees it as a threat)

• Association of print media in this case emphasizes his role as outdated & monopolistic
• Ties into idea of markets blaming financial decline on change in generational interests while refusing to adjust/adapt to modernization of tasteProduction Context … [8-10 minutes] Beginning Production

● Commissioned by an Austrian channel ORF III

• ○  For series “Artists-in-Residence”
• ○  Given a shoestring budget – 5,000 EUR = abt 5,382.90 USD

■ Considered guerilla filmmaking and micro filmmaking

• ○  Produced by Monochrom and Traum & Wahnsinn
  • Monochrom is an international art-technology-philosophy group,publishing house and film company founded in 1993; based vienna
  • The director is a member of the group
• ○  Some of the financing was done by pranking the viewers – says the video is for festival viewing only and to call a premium-rate number for copyright infringement (1.09 EUR/Min)

■ Unclear how much money they were able to acquire through this ○ Low budget meant a pretty small crew – some extras were definitely used multiple times

Conception

● Basic scriptwriting done in November 2013 – Johannes Grenzfurthner and Roland Gratzer

○ Some background lore and worldbuilding based on and inspired by a pen-and-paper roleplaying theatre performance “Campaign” in Volkstheatre, 2006

■ Unclear if it was called “Campaign” because that’s just what you call a DnD thing or what

○ Some ideas brainstormed in coffee shops

Release

● Premiered on ORF III on March 14, 2014
○ About two months after principal photography

■ December 2, 2013 – January 19, 2014

• ○  Went to many Film Festivals
• ○  Most notable: NYC Independent Film Festival (2014) and InternationalFilmmaker Festival of World Cinema (2015)

● Won three awards at the latter: Best Foreign Language

Feature Film, Best Director for Foreign Lang Film, and Best

Soundtrack
○ Eventually released December 25. 2015 on Monochrom’s YouTube channel

Your Close Readings … [5 minutes each]

The scene that I’ve chosen to talk about for my close reading is the part of the film where Alalia and Fratt meet Philine-Codec Comtesse de Cybersdorf (minute 32:34-37:19), who was one of the pioneers of the New World’s technological era. She is an eccentric character with quite the memorable backstory, claiming to have gone through all sorts of adventures and even claiming to have ridden her “double-headed pegasus over hills of radiated hunchbacks.” She was also someone who was a great influence on Von Pjölk, the same person at the beginning of the film who sent our two characters on this long journey. In her scene, she drops a huge amount of clarifying information to the story and acts as a conduit to the truth of this world. It’s quite the expositional dump, but there are really fun and memorable lines in her diologue.

This scene was extremely memorable to me purely because of how different it felt from the story we’d been given so far. Not only was it a turning point in the narrative, but it seemed to pull our characters as well as the audience out of the settings we’d grown so used to seeing ourselves in within the film. The mise-en-scene dramatically changes from the scene that came before, with brighter lights being introduced, dramatic and triumphent music beginning to play, and wider and longer shots to set the scene getting scattered throughout. Cybersdorf’s character is dressed in a light-grey colored suit while wearing a white mask to cover her face, all while being adorned by a large, reflective Neme similar to the ones worn by ancient Egyptian pharoahs. Throughout the scene we are shown many medium and close up shots of her which also shows her white face paint which practically blends with her white mask. Her character is certainly meant to be striking, almost as much as her loud, echoeing, French-accented voice. She almost feels like a beacon of light, or a being not meant to exist in the world we’ve been given; godlike, or deific. The form of her character seems to command everyone’s attention, and because she seems to hold so much of the world’s secrets, we’re almost inclined to listen purely for the context that she provides. It’s a really interesting scene that ends in a way I don’t think anyone could have expected.

• ●  I’m curious as to how the film crew decided this scene was to be played out. They clearly had a vision for what they wanted Cybersdorf to be, and played her character effectively. Was the neme meant to portray her to look and feel like someone in a higher status than some of the characters we’ve seen before?
• ●  Do you think all of her exposition to the world was helpful for the narrative? There were a few times where Cybersdorf would make a callback to a past event which completely took my attention away from the story because I was so interested in what the hell happened (i.e. when she says, “Until he pushed me into the lava of Bratislava.”).

The part where they meet the junkyard people (41:30-52:20)

• ●  Bearded libertarian Drag Queen Heinz Rand of Raika
  • ○  Why? Drag Queens – confidence, performance, superficial glam;Libertarian – this group seems far removed from the rest of the in film world, don’t shy away from technology despite having no knowledge on it – closests to the “nerd” group
  • ○  The scene basically depicts a group of people who are very into tech fetishism – they trade old defunk technology for more old defunk technology.
    • Tech fetishism – shallow obsession with tech; doesn’t understand how gadgets and whatnot work
    • Mise-en-scene: bland wasteland with people wearing bright, shiny, glittery, clothes – perhaps highlights the superficial nature of the tech obsessed traders
  • ○  The people of Raika are also free-market capitalists as seen in their song about trade, however trade is all they care about, not their “products”
    • A whole song and number dedicated to free-trade – attempting to use spectacle to convince people to trade
    • “Our lovely goods, you say they don’t work? Not at all, they are on fire!” – shows clear lack of knowledge regarding technology
  • ○  Alalia fixes the stuff and they get their equipment back and even some help in finding Echsenfriedl
    • The people weren’t convinced she could, citing that it’s dark energy – traditionalists, doesn’t seek to solve the problem with new solutions
    • Shows that perhaps people ought to get out of tech fetishism and start to learn more about technology in a more indepth manner.
• ●  Reflects the main idea regarding consumer culture and technology
  • ○  A tech obsessed world that doesn’t actually know much about techbut rather just wants the newest thing and wants to sell things for

    profit

  • ○  But also, slow to change and adapt – but when they do, things workout better for them.

■ Seen also with Pjolk and Echsenfriedl; the former grows

irrelevant while the latter takes over

The Gstetten Saga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl​ – Contextual Analysis 7

● Overall, a good and entertaining film that examines the tech obsessed culture, it’s relationship with the media and the market.

Close Reading

(22:33-28:00)
The scene in which I am covering shows Alalia and Fratt in the farmers hideout. The farmers heckle them in an unknown language and then force them to read some old documents, it is now that the two realize the farmers cannot read the documents. The farmers surround them in a zombie like fashion and they retire to a bunker where Alalia comes up with the idea to explode a gas canister with a match, thus freeing them. I think first and foremost in this scene is the representation of workers unions, in this case the farmers. Secondly the film is not conventional in that it portrays a much stronger and more capable female protagonist.

The film jabs multiple times in a satirical fashion at multiple labor unions and how barbaric and wasteland-ish their environment has become. Throughout the film the two discuss the progress of technology and for the most part are put in direct conflict with them. I believe this scene in particular says a lot about the horror of how labor unions are treated in Europe, and how the “nerds” are winning out more.

Secondly the part of the scene where Alalia comes up with a plan for their escape is telling as well because here and throughout the film she is shown to be the more capable protagonist, and the dominant power in the duo. This of course goes against the conventional narrative in Hollywood, and seems to be more aligned with the recent indie progressive wave.

The film brings up many topics of debate in the modern world. For one the role of the media and large corporations, the role of labor unions and their downfall, as well as the shifting of gender roles in media and society. For this reason I think the film is a decent chronicle of the modern epoch because of how it raises awareness of many of the pressing issues of today.

I’d like to take a closer look at the film’s opening scene. The beginning of the film uses a hand-drawn picture book accompanied by the voice of the “Rebellious narrator” to set the scene for the film in the form of four minutes of exposition.

• ●  This scene sets up the historical fiction of the film while also setting its tone
• ●  The storybook style combined with the centered framing of the book creates a feeling of recorded objectivity
  • ○  This helps in creating a fictional world an audience is able to believewithout requiring the budget recreating the drawn scenes would otherwise

    need

  • ○  Additionally, it ties into the film’s themes of media objectivity andsubjectivity
• ●  The content of the story being told within these four minutes is done so with a somewhat lighthearted yet humorously dark tone

○ For example the visual repetition used in the drawings of nuclear conflict work to highlight the destruction of civilization while managing to draw out humor in the similarities and difference between each portrayed attack

○ A similar type of visual repetition is used in the following pages of the book ■ This time effectively showing the passage of time and growth that has come with it
○ Another example of the tonality of this scene is the narrator’s description of Alaia’s background

• “Alaia’s life isn’t that easy either. She graduated in informationdesign; a degree which will help your vocational career about as

  much as committing suicide”

• This line helps in establishing Alalia’s character while poking fun ather using dark humor ■