THE LONELIEST MAN IN TOWN World Cinema

The Italian-Austrian directing duo of Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel (LA PIVELLINA) return with this fictionalized portrait of real-life Austrian blues musician Al Cook (aka Alois Koch), who, inspired by Elvis Presley and legendary blues musicians like Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson, has dedicated his life and career to honoring this musical tradition, eschewing commerciality and the vagaries of fashion. Now in his 80s, Al is the final remaining resident in his Vienna apartment building, a characterful old place that shady developers need him to vacate so they can demolish and rebuild. Adept at avoiding the cartoonish enforcers sent to coerce him into leaving, Al nonetheless knows his time is up, and shortly after the Christmas holidays he begins the process of packing up his belongings and selling what he can bear to part with. Covi and Frimmel’s camera lingers over Al’s mementos, including photos of his deceased wife and the touring American blues musicians he played with at Vienna’s fabled Jazzland back in the day. Al’s exquisite record collection is also lovingly catalogued by the camera, and the occasional old VHS tape dusted off by Al and given an airing shows him in his prime, performing on stage. Lovingly shot on texture-rich 16mm film, with an unhurried pace and deadpan comedic tone that recalls early Aki Kaurismäki and Jim Jarmusch films, THE LONELIEST MAN IN TOWN is a quirky, heartfelt homage to a man who has truly marched to the beat of his own drummer and lived his life and art to its fullest. –Todd Hitchcock