Austrian army lieutenant Charles Eismayer (Gerhard Liebmann) acts as one of those typical military macho types. As if his idol is that “Let Me See Your War Face” sergeant from Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket”, so Eismeyer constantly shouts at the young conscripts in the Austrian army. And it’s typical that stupid, military style and drill full of living, and that strict and notorious lieutenant and family man, he also has a secret life that he carefully hides. He is actually a homosexual and secretly meets with various guys at night, and a young Yugoslav, a conscript who has just arrived for drill with that strict, notorious and angry lieutenant, will help him come out of the closet.
Feature film debutant David Wagner made this film based on real events and real people from the not-so-distant past because the story takes place there just a few years ago. At one point, his fellow officers objected to Eismeyer to relax a bit, to reduce the brutality, because if he continues like this, no one will join the army. Although the time of the action is 2000, homophobia, sexism and even racism are still evident in the garrison. An officer claims that “fags have nothing to do in the army and that it is the same as putting a pedophile to work in a kindergarten”.
In the end, “Eismeyer” turned out to be a solid character study, a psychological drama about a man full of rage who at the same time seems to be ashamed of his homosexual tendencies and disgusted by him, but that’s who he is and he can’t get out of his skin. When the Yugoslav Mario Falak (Luka Dimić) appears in his company, a young man who does not hide the fact that he is homosexual and who likes to provoke and challenge, but who is still the best in the class, he will begin to test Eismeyer’s authority, and it seems that he will immediately understand that this one has the same tendencies. This film had its premiere during the criticism week of the festival in Venice, where “Eismeyer” was chosen as the best film in the competition.