''Altes Geld'' (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Old Money'') is an Austrian TV dark comedy series created by David Schalko, revolving around the dysfunctions of a wealthy

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Music of Vienna, musical styles in the city * Viennese Waltz, genre of ballroom dance * V ...

family.

Plot

When Rolf Rauchensteiner, patriarch of a rich Viennese dynasty, discovers that he will die soon unless he receives a new liver, he decides that his inheritance will go to whoever finds him a new liver. This creates havoc in the dysfunctional family, as everyone scrambles to find a liver and the head doctor who could help him refuses to do so. There are also other issues, since his wife Liane is having affairs with both her stepson Zeno and the family doctor, his Jewish sister decides to sue for restitution and his daughter Jana is infatuated with his son Jakob. Over the course of the eight episodes, other storylines develop such as Jakob's girlfriend Kerstin being arrested for murder, Zeno gambling his wealth away and Rolf's assistant Brunner losing the trust of his wife Barbara.

Main Cast

Udo Kier Udo Kierspe (born 14 October 1944), known professionally as Udo Kier, is a German actor. Known primarily as a character actor, Kier has appeared in more than 220 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas. He h ...

as Rolf Rauchensteiner, billionaire industrialist *

Sunnyi Melles Sunnyi Melles (born 7 October 1958 in Luxembourg, Luxembourg) is a Hungarian / Swiss actress active in Germany and Austria. Biography She is the only daughter of Austrian orchestral conductor Carl Melles and Hungarian noblewoman Judith von R ...

as Liane Rauchensteiner, Rauchensteiner's second wife * Nicholas Ofczarek as Zeno Rauchensteiner, Rauchensteiner's son from his first marriage * Manuel Rubey as Jakob Rauchensteiner, Rolf and Liane Rauchensteiner's son * Nora Waldstätten as Jana Rauchensteiner, Rolf and Liane Rauchensteiner's Daughter * Edita Malovčić as Tania, Zeno's girlfriend * Thomas Stipsits as Herwig Brunner, Rolf Rauchensteiner's assistant *

Ursula Strauss Ursula Strauss (born 25 April 1974) is an Austrian actress. She is best known for her role as Inspector Angelika Schnell in the television series ''Schnell ermittelt''. Strauss was born in Melk Melk (; older spelling: ) is a city of Austria, in ...

as Barbara Brunner, Herwig Brunner's wife * Robert Palfrader as Kralicek, Rolf Rauchensteiner's security * Yohanna Schwertfeger as Kerstin Bachmann, Jakob Rauchensteiner's girlfriend *

Simon Schwarz Simon Schwarz (born 10 January 1971 in Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , ...

as Tscheppe, Head of the organ distribution office, Green party politician * Cornelius Obonya as Dr. Schober, Rauchensteiner family doctor * Florian Teichtmeister as Martin, Jana Rauchensteiner's friend * Johannes Krisch as the Commander * Maria Hofstätter as the Commander's wife

Background and production

''Altes Geld'' was originally broadcast on Flimmit,

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

's online platform in early 2015, before being aired on

ORF eins ORF 1 (''ORF eins'') is an Austrian public television channel owned by ORF. It was the first television channel in Austria, started in 1955. ORF 1 is one of four public TV channels in Austria. It is funded by a mixture of advertising revenue an ...

in Austria in November. Subsequently, it aired on RTL Crime in Germany in February 2016. It also screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2016. The main role of Rolf Rauchensteiner was played by

. It was originally supposed to be acted by

Gert Voss Gert Voss (10 October 1941 – 13 July 2014) was a German actor. He was known for his roles in ''Labyrinth of Lies'' (2014), ''Sometime in August'' (2009) and ' (1987). He was member of the ensemble of the Burgtheater, and a ''Kammerschauspie ...

, before his sudden death. Like Voss, most of the other actors were from the Burgtheater in Vienna.

Episodes

Reception

Screen Anarchy Screen Anarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...

'' reviewed the series after it played at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, saying "''Altes Geld'' is a caustic satire, a hilarious thriller, and a spectacularly sadistic soap all in one". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' said "the deadpan style recalls the work of

Yorgos Lanthimos Georgios "Yorgos" Lanthimos ( el, Γιώργος Λάνθιμος, Giórgos Lánthimos, ; born 23 September 1973) is a Greek film director, film producer, screenwriter, photographer, theatre director and former professional basketball player. Sin ...

". For ''Wunschliste'' the series was fascinating but the unlikeable characters made it hard to watch. ''Altes Geld'' won a silver medal at the New York TV and Film Awards and a Gold Panda at the

Sichuan Television Festival The Sichuan Television Festival (), abbreviated SCTVF, also known as the Sichuang International Television Festival is one of the largest television festivals in East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both ...

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt3701442
Altes Geld
at fernsehserien.de 2015 Austrian television series debuts ORF (broadcaster) original programming 2010s Austrian television series Television shows set in Vienna Vienna in fiction