Strapped for cash because of his ex-wife's monetary demands, the unemployed Andreas (Roland Dueringer) decides to hold up a Vienna supermarket just before Christmas in order to raise some necessary funding. At the last minute he bows out and wanders into a tailor's shop across the street, where he impulsively takes Boeckel (Joachim Bissmeier), the owner, hostage. Before Andreas burst in, Boeckel had been in the process of fitting Franz (Josef Hader), a tiresome regular customer, and now the three men are trapped together as the police surround the store. Various power plays ensue until all become united in getting Andreas his money. When Hold-Up was shown at the 2000 Locarno Film Festival, Hader, Bissmeier, and Dueringer shared the festival's Best Actor prize for their ensemble work in the darkly comic film.
by Rebecca Flint Marx
synopsis
