Kopfstand

An early film starring Christoph Waltz in his big-screen debut, a bleak indictment of psychiatric treatments and the nightmare of asylums, a story of fatherless children loosing their path and being punished for the wrong crime (or that of their parents, anyway).
Markus Dorn, a rebellious young hairdresser in his early twenties, lives at his (estranged-yet-present) mother’s apartment, until the day he is sent to a clinic because of his alleged sociopathic maladjustment. From that point on, Markus falls prey to the Caligari-like director of the facility, who submits him to a series of electroconvulsive sessions in order to taming his attitude, which is far from passive. The tragic irony is that the kid has never had a real mental illness to begin with.
With its elliptic edition, fitting depressive pace and subjective tone, HEADSTAND is a compelling movie and a bit like a life lesson. Christoph Waltz is nuanced and moving, and as compelling as you expect the two-time Oscar winner to be at 25 years of age. (Christian Doig)