Höhenangst (1994)

The film Höhenangst tells the story of the young Mario Müllner, who, upon his release from prison, is required to live with his parents. He refuses, not least because his brutal father has never accepted him. But he cannot find anywhere else to stay: his girlfriend Sabine abandons him, and he does not want to return to the criminal milieu he knew before prison. He is driven by a fear of all uniformed people who cross his path, partly because he has no identification papers (the court ordered this so that he could not flee). A truck driver gives him a ride, but when Mario hears at a gas station that there are police checks nearby, he gets out. At the inn, people joke and suggest that he look for work with the reclusive Frau Gusenleitner. In fact, Mario is taken in at the remote, impoverished farm of Frau Gusenleitner and her elderly father. Bitter toward people from Vienna, Frau Gusenleitner moved to the countryside and is an unpopular outcast in the village, suspected of murdering her husband (in truth, however, her husband abandoned her after taking her savings). Gradually, Mario settles in with the Gusenleitners and breaks the ice with Frau Gusenleitner and the village community by getting involved in their protests against a new highway. While the mayor and regional politician Karl Prokopp make televised speeches about the road’s construction, Mario unfurls a protest banner from a tall factory tower. Mario’s father is willing to confirm that Mario lives with him only if he knows where Mario is actually staying, so the probation officer tells him Mario’s true whereabouts. Mario’s father then drives to the small town, confronts Mario for working for next to nothing at Frau Gusenleitner’s, and reveals in front of everyone that he is an ex-convict. Mario then flees in the car of Klaudia, his probation officer’s girlfriend, causes an accident while drunk, runs up the factory tower, and threatens to jump. The police only make things worse with their siren and loudspeaker. Frau Gusenleitner overcomes her fear of heights (normally, she cannot even manage to climb a ladder), goes up the tower to Mario, and manages to bring him back down. Mario will stay with her. (And Klaudia decides not to file a complaint over the car.)