EUFF 2023: Elfriede Jelinek – Language Unleashed

Austria/Germany | Catherine Müller | 2022 | 97 min

Renowned Austrian author Elfriede Jelinek has been called a lot of things: brilliant, rebellious, feminist, communist, wunderkind, enfant terrible, traitor to the fatherland. She is also a Nobel laureate. Concentrating on her artistic, playful, even iconoclastic approach to language, Language Unleashed reveals her extraordinary life story, in her own words, via a montage of material pulled from both broadcast media and personal archives. Exploring the incendiary collisions between literary aesthetics and politics, the documentary also examines how Jelinek’s work unflinchingly confronts and uncovers the social, historical, and political contradictions of contemporary Austria. Claudia Müller’s is an intelligent, inventive documentary worthy of its intelligent, inventive subject.

Best Documentary

Austrian Film Awards 2023

“The first major film portrait of Austrian playwright and author Elfriede Jelinek sets new cinematic standards, painting a phantom portrait of a reclusive, intellectual giant, and fearless social observer.”

CPH:DOX