The Austrian Women

Five women have been awarded a prestigious commission to curate an exhibition subsidised by the state commemorating the Austrian republic’s anniversary. Sissi, Franzi, Erni, Babsi and Maxi trawl through the archives to assemble a carefully ordered chart incorporating emperors and chancellors, resistance fighters and followers. Taking a break from the dusty historical archives, the five friends decide to spend some time in the mountains to remind themselves of their homeland’s natural beauty. Just as they are approaching the summit, dark clouds roll in and a storm ensues. When the women arrive back in the valley, they find their work in tatters. Nothing is where they left it; their structured assemblage of events, people and documentary sources is now a chaotic jumble. But chaos reigns elsewhere, too. Their private lives have been turned upside down; the partners of Franzi and Erni suddenly profess political views that don’t fit in to their lives, requiring the women to position themselves unequivocally. This new dynamic leaves Maxi feeling shaken and insecure but provokes Babsi into revealing that she sympathises with these new opinions. While Sissi tries to mediate, the next storm is already threatening the town.

Thomas Arzt’s The Austrian Women is a finely crafted jaunt through the centenary history of the Austrian republic that also provides a profound examination of the country’s present. This storm has a ferocity seen only once in a century and rages across the country and its population, sweeping away established certainties and societal consensus – and creating the need for history to be re-written.