by SARAH ROWLAND

In a cinematic career spanning nearly 35 years, Austrian überstar Klaus Maria Brandauer has appeared in over 52 international features, won countless Euro awards for his achievements in film and theatre, not to mention a Golden Globe for his supporting role in 1985's Out of Africa. Yet, drop his name outside of cinégeek circles and you'll likely be met with blank stares. That is, until you bring up Never Say Never Again, in which he plays OO7's requisite eccentric-bad-guy-with-a-menacing-Middle-Eastern-accent and then it's "Oh, that guy."

The Goethe-Institut's two-month long spotlight on his Germanic, French and Hollywood classics ought to right this wrong. Kicking off the retrospective next week, Brandauer will present the 1985 Colonel Redl, followed by a Q&A period. Based on a true story, it chronicles the life of the tragically loyal military hero Colonel Redl, who served during the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Not surprisingly, the highly decorated intelligence specialist made great efforts to keep his Jewish heritage and homosexuality a secret from his superiors. In this second installment of his collaborative trilogy with Hungarian director István Szabó (Being Julia), Brandauer displays one of his greatest onscreen trademarks: the ability to hold a gun to his head like no other actor. Index finger twitching on the trigger, his contorting facial expressions cinch and release rapidly as he decides what is a worse fate: facing false treason charges or spraying grey matter all over his hard-earned medals.

Another signature trait is his ability to spontaneously erupt into violent diatribes, best demonstrated in the first Brandauer/Szabó joint production, Mephisto, in which he plays a megalomaniac thespian who runs the Berlin State Theatre under Nazi dictatorship. Other notable roles the 61-year-old legend has tackled are title parts in Rembrandt and Mario et le magicien. Of course, as powerful and breathtaking as these performances are, they can never rival the kinetic choreography of an underwater wrestling match with Sean Connery. But they come pretty damn close.

Klaus Maria Brandauer presents Colonel Redl at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Friday, Jan. 14, 7 p.m. For more showtimes, visit www.goethe.de/montreal

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