Review of Come Sweet Death

In the vein of the excellent Swiss cop basher Strähl (2004), this dark Austrian comedy relies on a cartoonish depiction of a sympathetic loser trying to survive in an intrinsically hostile milieu – life. What Zurich's drug scene does for the former, Vienna's underbelly provides for the latter, with a cast of lowlife eccentrics firing off relentless salves of hysterical dialogues and folkloric swearing, most of it mumbled in thick local lingo. Renowned cabaret artist and actor Josef Hader is Simon Brenner, a failed cop but successful dope-smoker and alcoholic who now works as a paramedic for a private rescue service waging a ruthless war for patients against a rival business. Things fall off the stretcher when Brenner suspects his German colleague of a double shooting, whereupon he half-heartedly investigates the crime and, a few corpses later, unravels a murky ploy, roughly to do with State subsidies. Komm, süßer Tod, based on the award-winning novel by Wolf Haas, is yet more proof that unlike their German counterparts, Austrians have humour. Though subtitles might spoil some of the fun for non-Germanic viewers, I'd take a gamble that the satirical overtone of this weirdo will not elude you, provided you have a heart for grassroots extravaganza and occasional bad taste. But more than that, director Wolfgang Murnberger deserves credit for resisting the temptation of indulging in his offbeat characters and always resuming his main plot line, keeping the interest for the intrigue alive at all times. The filming and editing are fast-paced, nicely counterbalancing the Viennese languish ("Schmäh") that pervades all things living, with the notable exception of the German (commonly abused as "Piefke", the Austrian equivalent for "Kraut"), perfidiously played by regular Tatort detective Bernd Michael Lade. And although the resolve, culminating in a classic pursuit and showdown, is far too predictable and Tatort-style anticlimactic, the film manages to return to its basic premises in the epilogue, elegantly rounding off a fullblown comic hammer that'll drive your dopamine levels up.