P.R.A.T.E.R.

With P.R.A.T.E.R. Schmidt turned his attention to the place where, once, the medium first came into existence (the Prater is ViennaŽs big amusement park). Schmidt seeks to assist it in a second, delayed birth into the modern age. P.R.A.T.E.R. is marked by a strongly repetitive flow. SchmidtŽs prime interest lies with people, their facial expressions and manner of looking. The film is in two parts; while the first acts as an exposé of the main themes, treatment and disintegration of these themes is intensified in the second part. The takes become increasingly more fragmented, more parenthetic; for the first time, Schmidt inserts negative material. The segmented title is in itself an indication of the fact that the aim is not image realism, whether fragmented or not.
(Peter Tscherkassky)