Tiere - English subtitled
A marital drama on the surface, Tiere evolves into a puzzling Lychian mystery about a couple incapable of knowing where they are: in the real world, in their own imaginations – or in someone else’s imagination.
Nick and Anna are off to Switzerland for six months. Nick wants to collect recipes of local cuisine, and Anna finally hopes to write a new book. The time away might be good for their relationship too, for Anna knows about Nick’s affair with their neighbour Andrea, who threw herself out the window. Mischa will be taking care of the fish and the philodendron in their Viennese apartment while they’re gone. On the drive to Switzerland, they collide with a sheep.
As the narrative progresses, the more it undermines certainties and sows doubts. Are the characters really themselves, or merely figments of someone else’s imagination? First the timeframes become confused, before spatial boundaries are also suspended. Disconcerting parallels emerge between the Vienna apartment and the Swiss chalet. And doesn’t the ice cream seller in the neighbouring town look just like Mischa?