Overview

The hackney carriage, once the fastest means of transportation for aristocrats and commoners, is now a cliché-ridden Viennese cultural asset, a popular tourist attraction and an object of hate for animal rights activists. Like the beggars, the hackney carriages are "children of the street". Their stand is their village square. They know the locals, they are hated or loved. The rhythm of the horses determines their pace and they are dependent on tourism. Ulli Gladik and her team portray five horse-drawn carriage drivers: we are with them in the stables, see them on their tours, experience them at their stables in St. Stephen's Cathedral, handling their horses and in discussions with animal rights activists. A film about passion, cliché and tradition, the relationship between animals, humans and the big city and a Viennese cultural asset threatened with extinction.