Styx
Premiering at the Berlinale, where it opened the Panorama Special section, STYX is a work of unrelenting intensity and technical brilliance. ER doctor Rike (Susanne Wolff) embarks on a one-woman solo sailing trip to Ascension Island in the Atlantic. When Rike comes across a sinking ship of refugees, she is quickly torn out of her contented and idealized world and must make a momentous decision. Aptly named after the mythological river that separates the living from the dead, STYX is an astute modern day parable of Western indifference in the face of marginalized suffering. Carrying practically the entire film, Wolff is riveting as a woman pushed to her physical, psychological and moral limits.
Cast
- Susanne Wolff
- Alexander Beyer
- Gedion Oduor Wekesa
DVD Features
Commentary with Director Wolfgang Fischer and Actress Susanne Wolff
Short Film
Sound: Stereo and 5.1
Discs: 1
- "Styx weaves a lean and gripping parable about the refugee crisis...a spartan (wo)man-versus-nature adventure tale in the style of All Is Lost, and one that’s even more strikingly authentic in its depiction of ocean sailing than J.C. Chandor’s film."
- "A taut moral thriller...."
- "A blunt, breathless, and astoundingly unsentimental morality play that’s told with the intensity of a ticking-clock thriller.... "
- "Like the small sailboat on which it is set, Wolfgang Fischer’s extraordinarily gripping account of a one-woman solo voyage across the Atlantic that is suddenly interrupted when she comes across a sinking trawler overloaded with refugees, is brisk, efficient and thrillingly dynamic. This is “All Is Lost” with a spinning moral compass and a topical dimension that proves even more gripping than its brilliantly achieved visceral action."
- "'Styx' is minimalist filmmaking executed in superbly sharp fashion. Susanne Wolff... accomplishes more in a glance than most of her peers could ever hope to achieve with minute-long, uninterrupted diatribes. Benedict Nuenfels’s cinematography steals your undivided attention, and never once relents its evocative authority. "
- "Carrying practically the entire film, Wolff is never less than remarkable in a demanding role that’s 80 percent silence and 20 percent English-language dialogue. The fully inhabited turn should further help cement her international status as a star to be reckoned with...."
- "A captivating maritime thriller…beautiful, thought-provoking and intense. Definitely see this one if you get the chance. "
- "...with such effective, precise performances on both sides of the camera—making tension a constant in the changing inflection of physical and moral jeopardy—Styx emerges as one of the fest’s best."
- "**** (4 stars) A slow burn thriller…the film ends with a devastating and quite beautiful gut punch."
- "A thinking person’s survival drama."
- "As contemplative as it is engrossing...."
- "A captivating, exhilarating cinematic experience."
- "Styx mixes the inherent danger of man versus nature with man's callous indifference to man, managing to be both eternal and contemporary in its concerns. The result is as dramatically satisfying as it is morally troubling."
Awards & Recognition
Heiner Carow Prize
Berlin Int'l. Film Festival
Ecumenical Jury Prize
Berlin Int'l. Film Festival
Label Europa Cinemas
Berlin Int'l. Film Festival
Best Feature Film
German Human Rights Film Award
Best Actress Metropolis Prize
German Directors Guild
Best Director Metropolis Prize
German Directors Guild
Best Producer Metropolis Prize
German Directors Guild
Best Actress
Günter Rohrbach Film Prize
Best Actress
Valletta Film Festival
Best Cinematographer
Valletta Film Festival
Flying Ox
Schwerin Art of Film Festival
Audience Award
Schwerin Art of Film Festival
Mehrwert Award
Vienna Int'l. Film Festival
Best Director
Austrian Film Awards (Austrian Oscars)
Best Script
Austrian Film Awards (Austrian Oscars)
Best Film Editor
Austrian Film Awards (Austrian Oscars)
Best Cinematographer
Bavarian Film Awards
Best Film Award - Silver
German Film Awards
Best Actress
German Film Awards
Best Cinematography
German Film Awards
Best Sound Design
German Film Awards