Writer and Director Christoph Schwarz
Professional irritants like documentarian Michael Moore or environmental activists Extinction Rebellion are sometimes criticised for dodging consequences while imposing their views upon, and causing inconvenience for, people who have to get up for work in the morning. Piggy Bank, Christoph Schwarz’s mockumentary (which contains factual information so is a mock- mockumentary) cheerfully accepts this jaded viewpoint.
Austrian TV documentary series “Striking Years” offers to fund a series of documentaries by Schwarz and other filmmakers on the impact of their environmental activities over a period of one year. Options include living without speaking or ceasing to use the internet or eating only food which has been sourced by the participant. Schwarz proposes to live without spending money for a year but, it turns out, he has little choice in the matter having used the €90,000 fee, which was supposed to fund the documentary, to instead buy a holiday home.
Schwarz shows no guilt about his deception and continues to behave in a sneaky manner by exploiting the goodwill of other people. His production assistant on the no-budget documentary works for free as an intern and his cameraman is so committed to the environmental cause he refuses to accept payment. Schwarz has a comfortable background (you need to be rich to afford being poor he observes); he saves money by house-sitting for his parents and can afford to pay an accountant (as an in-joke Schwarz’s real tax advisor (Miguel Schauer) plays the role). He is able to play upon the guilt actor Robert Stadlober feels about his relatively lavish lifestyle to get him to serve as narrator for the movie. The other documentarians acknowledge, to a degree, they too have cheated with one admitting he really did not cook and eat shoe leather.
There is no point at which Schwarz sees the light and, overcome by remorse, begins to support environmental activism for real. Rather he drifts into the role- having played a climate activist he accidently becomes one. Ironically at the same time real-life activists featured in the film start to lose faith, David Sonnenbaum, the founder of “Last Generation” and “Robin Foods’’ is looking for a job in the private sector.
The environmental actions in the mockumentary range from practical to attention grabbing stunts. The extent to which supermarkets waste food that has reached an expiry date is demonstrated as it is recovered by Schwarz and colleagues from dustbins and distributed among the community for free. To draw attention to the favourable treatment given to car owners in Vienna Schwarz converts an automobile into a mobile herb garden filled with soil and plants. Frustrated at not being allowed to turn a traffic roundabout into a potato farm Schwarz re-packages the proposal as an arts project and gets permission to proceed.
Schwarz’s schemes go so smoothly there is little tension in the film and he has to manufacture his own conflict. The comment from the film producer that, if he is living without funds for a year, Schwarz ought not to claim his fee prompts a farcical deception whereby he clandestinely obtains counterfeit bank notes which are ostentatiously burnt. The stunt rebounds- as the TV station is publicly-funded Schwarz has apparently burnt taxpayers’ money – but naturally everything works out; Schwarz’s tax advisor confirms the stunt can be claimed as a tax deduction.
Schwarz acknowledges difficulty in finding an ending for the film. In a rare sobering moment an activist remarks the only way to effectively demonstrate to the public the adverse effect of environmental deterioration would be an extreme gesture like burning the Vienna Woods. However, when the woods really do catch fire, without outside intervention, it has no impact whatsoever upon public opinion.
Piggy Bank is an audacious use of the mockumentary format utilising a morally-dubious protagonist whose sometimes selfish actions unintentionally benefit the greater good. The mockumentary offers something for all viewers. Environmental activists will applaud the achievements of Schwarz and colleagues in raising awareness and taking practical action while those who are skeptical of The Green Agenda will find the documentarian’s cynical exploitation confirms their prejudices.
Piggy Bank is screening at the 3rd watchAUT Austrian Film Festival from 13-16 March.
The Reviews Hub Score
Audacious mockumentary
