Arquivo

Franz works at the Vienna Museum of Art, copying paintings by great masters. The work itself and interest in the masterpieces exerts an enormous influence over him, and renders him extremely sensitive to the subliminar conflicts in day-to-day life. Under threat by sudden change all about him, he seeks secure refuge, a secure haven in the paintings. Not always is it possible to escape from real life and from the troubles that beset him. For instance, his former wife takes it upon herself to keep the daughter Franz so loves away from him. He is subject to competition in his work environment, and he feels he is under pressure, unable to cope. To add to this, a new woman comes into his life, and he gradually loses a notion of reality and goes on to live a fantasy ridden with anguish. The world of painting brusquely breaks in on his routine, without so much as a trace of a reaction on his part. All would seem to indicate that Franz would wish no other than to be borne away by his imagination.