It all starts with a mistake. The wealthy Polina finds a sleeping man in her hotel room, the business lawyer Friedrich. A mistake by the receptionist, he claims, and she believes him. He asks her to play for him in the casino. She is a lucky child. She plays and wins. Friedrich, who is accused of embezzlement, sees his mountain of debt melt away. But then his luck changes. Polina's losses soon threaten her own existence.
Acting
Hannelore Elsner's brittle, hypnotic descent.
Direction
Riedlsperger's clinical observation of self-destruction.
Director
Erhard Riedlsperger
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
A rare Austrian-German co-production exploring Weimar-era gambling obsession through a female protagonist, subverting the typical 'fallen woman' narrative by making her complicit architect of her own ruin.
Hannelore Elsner reportedly insisted on doing her own casino scenes without coaching, having never gambled before—her genuine uncertainty reads as terrifying authenticity on screen.
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