''Rimini'' is a 2022 drama film directed by

Ulrich Seidl Ulrich Maria Seidl (born 24 November 1952) is an Austrian film director, writer and producer. Among other awards, his film ''Dog Days'' won the Grand Jury Prize at Venice in 2001. His 2012 film '' Paradise: Love'' competed for the Palme d'Or at ...

. It depicts Richie Bravo, a once-famous Austrian pop singer who has settled in Italy, as well as his estranged daughter and his retired father.

Hans-Michael Rehberg Hans-Michael Rehberg (2 April 1938 – 7 November 2017) was a German actor. Biography Rehberg, born in Fürstenwalde, Brandenburg, was one of six children. He grew up in Bavaria after the family moved to Lake Starnberg. After training as an ...

plays the father, in his last film role. The film is the first in a diptych; the other film, ''

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

'', is about Richie's brother, Ewald. ''Rimini'' premiered at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival.

Cast

* Michael Thomas as Richie Bravo * Tessa Göttlicher as Tessa *

as Father *

Inge Maux Inge Maux (born 2 October 1944 in Mettmach, Upper Austria as ''Ingeborg Christine Wöchtl'') is an Austrian actress. Life Maux grew up mainly in Upper Austria. Her uncle was the composer Richard Maux (1893-1971), who supported her artistical ...

as Emmi Fleck * Claudia Martini as Annie * Georg Friedrich as Ewald

Production

The character of Richie Bravo was written for Michael Thomas. Seidl conceived of the character after Thomas sang a

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

song at a restaurant impromptu while shooting ''

Import/Export ''Import/Export'' is an Austrian drama film by the director Ulrich Seidl from 2007. It was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and won the Grand Prix - Golden Apricot reward at the Yerevan International Film Festival. The ...

'' (2007). The film was shot in Austria, Italy, Romania, and Germany for a total of 85 days over the course of a year from March 2017. The shoot in

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

was set to take place in November 2017, but was postponed until early 2018 because winter fog did not arrive as anticipated. Seidl and Veronika Franz wrote the diptych originally as one film titled ''Wicked Games'' (), with the two plotlines told in parallel, but they decided to split it into two films in the editing process. Seidl said, "the unifying element here is the search for happiness and the attempt to leave one's past behind. But it catches up with you, that is the bitter or perhaps liberating truth that the protagonists ultimately have to face."

Fritz Ostermayer Fritz Ostermayer (born 1956 in Schattendorf) is an Austrian author, DJ and musician. He lives and works in Vienna as radio broadcaster ("Im Sumpf"/ FM4). Ostermayer compiled a CD about funeral marches: "Dead & Gone" (released by Trikont). His ...

and Herwig Zamernik wrote Richie Bravo's Schlager songs.

Release

''Rimini'' premiered in official competition at the

72nd Berlin International Film Festival The 72nd annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale (), took place from 10 to 20 February 2022 in person. On 15 December 2021, the first film of the festival was announced. The festival opened with François Ozon's ...

in February 2022. It also screened at the 2022

Diagonale The Diagonale (Festival of Austrian Film) is a film festival that takes place every March in Graz, Austria. The festival was initially held under the auspices of the Austrian Film Commission in Salzburg from 1993 to 1995 but moved to Graz in 19 ...

, where it won the prizes for Best Feature Film and Best Costume Design. ''Wicked Games: Rimini Sparta'', a 205-minute film consisting of ''Rimini'' and ''

'' edited together, premiered at the

International Film Festival Rotterdam International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...

on 29 January 2023. It screened at the

Filmarchiv Austria The Filmarchiv Austria ("Austrian Film Archive") is an organisation for the discovery, reconstruction and preservation of Austrian film record material: films themselves, literature about film and cinema, or film-related periodicals. With over 260 ...

on 4 March 2023, and at the

on 25 March 2023.

Reception

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 81 out of 100, based on six critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Jessica Kiang of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called the film "an uncompromising, coldly provocative drama" and wrote that Thomas gives "such an astoundingly deep-dive performance it barely feels like performance at all".

Peter Bradshaw Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine. Early life and education Bradshaw was educat ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote that the film "is managed with unflinching conviction, a tremendous compositional sense and an amazing flair for discovering extraordinary locations", giving it four out of five stars.

References

External links

* {{Ulrich Seidl 2022 films 2022 drama films Austrian drama films French drama films German drama films 2020s German-language films 2020s Italian-language films Films set in Austria Films set in Emilia-Romagna Films shot in Italy Films shot in Romania Films shot in Austria Films shot in Germany Films directed by Ulrich Seidl 2020s French films German-language French films