The Seventh Continent
Encyclopedia
The Seventh Continent is a 1989 Austrian drama film
directed by Michael Haneke
. It is Haneke's debut feature film
, reportedly inspired by a true story of an Austrian middle class family that committed suicide
. The film chronicles the last years of the family, which consists of Georg, an engineer; his wife Anna, an optician
; and their young daughter, Eva. They seem to lead routine urban middle-class lives, but suddenly decide to destroy themselves without any apparent reason. The film only implies some kind of nervous depression and isolation in modern repetitive life.
The third part, 1989, begins with the family departing from the grandparents' home after a visit. The husband then narrates a letter, written the next day, informing them he and his wife have quit their jobs and decided "to leave". It plays over clips of them quitting, closing their bank account, telling the clerk they are emigrating to Australia, selling their car, and buying a large variety of cutting tools. He then says it was a very hard decision whether or not to take Eva with them, but they decided to do so after she said she was not afraid of death.
The family then eats a luxurious meal, and goes about systematically destroying every possession in the house, but in an automatic and lifeless manner, with barely any speaking (as are almost all of their actions in the movie). They rip up all of their money and flush it down the toilet. The only emotion shown is when Georg shatters their large fish tank, and his daughter screams and cries hysterically. Finally, they commit suicide, first Eva, then Anna, and finally Georg. Just before he dies, Georg is shown methodically writing the names, date, and time of death of all three family members on the wall. There is an envelope addressed to Georg's parents taped to the door.
At the end of the film, there is text saying that, despite the suicide note, Georg's parents thought it may have been a homicide and a police investigation was conducted. No evidence of murder was found.
and the prize for Best Application of Music and Sound in Film at the Ghent International Film Festival.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Michael Haneke
Michael Haneke
Michael Haneke is a German born Austrian filmmaker and writer best known for his bleak and disturbing style. His films often document problems and failures in modern society. Haneke has worked in television‚ theatre and cinema. He is also known for raising social issues in his work...
. It is Haneke's debut feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
, reportedly inspired by a true story of an Austrian middle class family that committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. The film chronicles the last years of the family, which consists of Georg, an engineer; his wife Anna, an optician
Optician
An optician is a person who is trained to fill prescriptions for eye correction in the field of medicine, also known as a dispensing optician or optician, dispensing...
; and their young daughter, Eva. They seem to lead routine urban middle-class lives, but suddenly decide to destroy themselves without any apparent reason. The film only implies some kind of nervous depression and isolation in modern repetitive life.
Plot
The film is divided into three parts. The first two, 1987 and 1988, each depict a day in the family's life, showing their daily activities in detail. It conveys their discomfort with the sterile routines of modern society. Toward the beginning of each part, there is a voice over of the wife reading a letter to the husband's parents informing them of his success at work. Many of the same activities are shown in both parts.The third part, 1989, begins with the family departing from the grandparents' home after a visit. The husband then narrates a letter, written the next day, informing them he and his wife have quit their jobs and decided "to leave". It plays over clips of them quitting, closing their bank account, telling the clerk they are emigrating to Australia, selling their car, and buying a large variety of cutting tools. He then says it was a very hard decision whether or not to take Eva with them, but they decided to do so after she said she was not afraid of death.
The family then eats a luxurious meal, and goes about systematically destroying every possession in the house, but in an automatic and lifeless manner, with barely any speaking (as are almost all of their actions in the movie). They rip up all of their money and flush it down the toilet. The only emotion shown is when Georg shatters their large fish tank, and his daughter screams and cries hysterically. Finally, they commit suicide, first Eva, then Anna, and finally Georg. Just before he dies, Georg is shown methodically writing the names, date, and time of death of all three family members on the wall. There is an envelope addressed to Georg's parents taped to the door.
At the end of the film, there is text saying that, despite the suicide note, Georg's parents thought it may have been a homicide and a police investigation was conducted. No evidence of murder was found.
Title
The film's title is a reference to Australia, the continent mentioned in the film as the family's destination. Its image is visualized as an isolated beach and desert, with a mountain range on the left border and pool of water with mysterious waves (which are clearly physically impossible) in between, accompanied by discreet sounds of waves in an ominous tone. It appears in the first two parts and as the last image in a series of flashbacks shown right before Georg's death.Background
In an interview on the DVD, director Michael Haneke said that the movie is based on a newspaper article he read about a family who committed suicide in this manner. The article said the police discovered that the money was flushed because they found little bits of currency stuck in the plumbing. He claimed to have correctly predicted to the producer that audiences would be upset with that scene, and remarked that in today's society the idea of destroying money is more taboo than parents killing their child and themselves.Reception
The film won the Bronze Leopard at the Locarno International Film FestivalLocarno International Film Festival
The Film Festival Locarno is an international film festival held annually in the city of Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. After Cannes and Venice and together with Karlovy Vary, Locarno is the Film Festival with the longest history...
and the prize for Best Application of Music and Sound in Film at the Ghent International Film Festival.