ThesubtitleofJean-MarieStraubandDanièleHuillet’sfirstfeature,from1965,“OnlyViolenceHelpsWhereViolenceReigns,”suggeststhefiercepoliticalprogramevokedbytheirrigorousaesthetic.Thepretextofthefilm,setinCologne,isHeinrichBöll’snovel“BilliardsatHalfPastNine,”whichtheystripdowntoahandfulofstarkeventsandfilmwithaconfrontationalangularityakintoBartók’smusicthatadornsthesoundtrack.Thesubtlestofcuesaccompanythestory’scomplexflashbacks.Themiddle-agedRobertFähmeltellsayounghotelbellhopofpersecutionsundertheThirdReich;hiselderlyfather,Heinrich,anarchitectfamedforalocalabbey,recallsthemilitarismoftheFirstWorldWar,whenhiswife,Johanna,incurredtroubleforinsultingtheKaiser.Athird-generationFähmelisconsideringarchitecture,justastheexiledbrotherofRobert’slatewife,returns,onlytobemetbytheirformertorturer,nowaWestGermanofficialtakingpartinacelebratoryparadeofwarveterans.StraubandHuilletmakethelayersofhistoryliveinthepresenttense,whichtheyjudgeseverely.Thetamped-downactingandthespare,tensevisualrhetoricsuggestastateofmoralcrisisaswellastheresponse—asmuchinstyleasinsubstance—thatitdemands.
