Swiss cinematography

Swiss film is a late developer by international standards. There was no established film industry in Switzerland by the time the era of the talkies dawned in 1930. One of the reasons for this is the cultural peculiarity that Switzerland is divided into three main linguistic regions. All the regions – French-, Italian- and German-speaking Switzerland – turn far more towards their respective neighbouring countries than to one another. This is why the history of film has unfolded – and continues to unfold – in different ways in each part of Switzerland.

In 1937, an official cultural policy was adopted to serve the interests of national cohesion. It was described as Intellectual Defence of the Nation (Geistige Landesverteidigung (GLV)). For film, this triggered an initial heyday between 1938 and 1943, because the industry benefited from large cultural subventions. In 1944, the Praesens-Film company addressed more critical issues, leading to problems with right-wing circles who had powers of censorship. Leopold Lindtberg did better justice to his critical intentions by directing a pivotal work in the history of Swiss film: Die letzte Chance (The Last Chance) (1945). This film depicts the adventurous flight of a multinational group of refugees from Italy to Switzerland. The film met with success well beyond Switzerland's borders, and it chalked up impressive box-office figures in the USA from November 1945 onwards.
After Lazar Wechsler had come to notice in 1944 with his refugee drama Marie-Louise, the gates of Hollywood were open to him. In 1946, his Praesens-Film company joined with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios to produce The Search under the direction of Fred Zinnemann, who had emigrated from Austria to escape the Nazis and had by then become a star director in the USA. The film won a host of international awards. Other works resulting from the Praesens company's international focus included Swiss Tour (1949) and Four in a Jeep (1951) about occupied Vienna in the post-war period, both directed by Leopold Lindtberg.

The heyday of Heimatfilm

The successful formula adopted in the previous years by the Praesens company, focusing on humanitarian content, eventually lost its edge in view of negative political developments abroad; at this point, the company was able to move on almost seamlessly to a new recipe for sure-fire success with Heidi (1952), directed by Luigi Comencini, an example of the "Heimatfilm" genre of films with local or regional backgrounds. In Germany alone, this film was seen over one million times, and it went on to succeed not only in most European countries (in the eastern and western blocs alike), but also in the USA where 300 copies were circulated. This success called for a follow-up: Heidi and Peter (1955), the first Swiss colour film, was soon released with even greater success. There was international demand for the "ideal world" kitsch of these films, set amid splendid mountains and Alpine meadows in bloom, so Switzerland (which was spared from the war) actually fell into line with post-war film trends in Germany and Austria.
Franz Schnyder, director of the second Heidi film, reached the climax of his career in the ensuing years and became one of the best and busiest directors on the Swiss film scene. The starting-point for his evolution was Uli der Knecht (known by the same title in English), an unexpectedly successful film which he directed in 1954.
Schnyder filmed other works by Gotthelf such as Uli der Pächter (Uli the Tenant) (1955), Die Käserei in der Vehfreude (The Cheese Factory in the Hamlet) (1958), Anne Bäbi Jowäger – Part 1: Wie Jakobli zu einer Frau kommt (How Jakobli Found a Wife) (1960), Anne Bäbi Jowäger – Part 2: Jakobli and Meyeli (1960) and Geld und Geist (Money and Spirit) (1964). The filmed versions of Gotthelf's works were highly popular with the Swiss public on account of their closeness to the "ideal world" cliché, although they were also criticised on the same grounds by some media and by the younger generation. The lurid title for The Cheese Factory in the Hamlet – "Wildwest im Emmental" – also stirred up quite a controversy. In Switzerland, this film was watched by an almost incredible total of 1.8 million cinemagoers – out of a population of around 5.5 million at that time. In 1956, however, Schnyder's Zwischen uns die Berge (The Mountains Between Us) was a huge flop. This film crammed in so many Swiss clichés that it is actually larded with accidental comedy. Even before shooting started, the script led Schnyder to fear such an outcome, but he was obliged to produce it on the basis of a contract with the Praesens-Film company.

"New Wave" Swiss film

The first "alternative" Swiss films emerged from 1955 onwards in the French-speaking region of the country. They were therefore influenced more by the French Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) than by developments in the German-speaking region, all the more so as the French Nouvelle Vague was already evident in the 1950s whereas German-language film production was still focusing on banal entertainment and Heimatfilm kitsch. 25-year-old Jean-Luc Godard first surfaced as a filmmaker in Switzerland in 1954 with Opération Béton (Operation Concrete). He himself financed this film and its successor, Une femme coquette (A Flirtatious Woman) (1955), but then he returned to Paris due to the difficult working conditions in the French-speaking region of Switzerland. One work that can be attributed to the New Wave movement in Swiss film was already screened at Venice in 1957. Nice Time (1957), produced in the UK by Claude Goretta and Alain Tanner, presented a modern kaleidoscope of urban life in an impressionistic manner.

In subsequent years, several young Swiss filmmakers also made their debuts in the German-speaking region of Switzerland. Markus Imhoof achieved prominence in 1961 with Wehe, wenn wir losgelassen (Woe if We Let Go); in the same year Alexander J. Seiler produced Auf weissem Grund (On White Ground) and in 1963, Fredi M. Murer produced his first film, Der gefallene Turm von Pisa (The Fall of the Tower of Pisa).

Continuous work in the field of avant-garde and experimental film was accomplished in Switzerland by Peter von Gunten and the AKS Group of Biel/Bienne, consisting of Urs Aebersold, Clemens Klopfenstein and Philip Schaad.

Films from the German-speaking region of Switzerland which also achieved renown abroad were made by Daniel Schmid, Kurt Gloor, Markus Imhoof, Peter von Gunten and also Xavier Koller. In the French-speaking region of Switzerland, Geneva Television co-produced and co-financed film projects that heralded a fruitful new awakening in the feature film segment. In collaboration with "Groupe 5" which centered on Alain Tanner, Claude Goretta, Michel Soutter, Jean-Louis Roy and Jean-Jacques Lagrange – later replaced by Yves Yersin – cinema films were produced such as Tschechow ou le miroir des vies perdues (Chekhov or the Mirror of Lost Lives) (1965), A propos d'Elvire (About Elvira) (1965) and Charles mort ou vif (Charles Dead or Alive) (1970), as well as several TV films. Francis Reusser also helped to shape French-language Swiss film in the 1970s; his works and others bear witness to the period when sophisticated films which were very much of their era flourished in Switzerland in and around the 1970s. Important examples include Alain Tanner's La salamandre (The Salamander) (1971) and Les années lumière (Light Years Away) (1981), Michel Soutter's Les arpenteurs (The Surveyors) (1972) und Claude Goretta's Pas si méchant que ça (The Wonderful Crook) (1975). Fredi M. Murer scored a major success in 1986 with Höhenfeuer (Alpine Fire), which was a realistic depiction of the lives of mountain farmers. Switzerland's best-known and most haunting attempt to come to terms with the past was the 1981 joint Swiss-Austrian-West German production, Das Boot ist voll (The Boat is Full). The title alludes to Switzerland's restrictive asylum policy in the second world war. Markus Imhoof provided consistent direction with a superb ensemble of actors featuring Tina Engel and Curt Bois; their efforts played a key part in the success of the film which was nominated for an Oscar as the "Best non-English-language film", among other honours.

Tradition of documentary film

Several documentary filmmakers such as Fredi M. Murer, Alexander J. Seiler, Richard Dindo and the duo of Walter Marti and Reni Mertens also shaped the evolution of German-Swiss film. Richard Dindo, for example, joined with Niklaus Meienberg to reconstruct The Shooting of the Traitor Ernst S. (1976) and also addressed the subject of The Swiss in the Spanish Civil War (1974). Another much-acclaimed production by Dindo was the reconstruction of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of four young people who were victims of police actions during youth unrest: Dani, Michi, Renato and Max (1987). For several years, the Locarno Film Festival has given extensive screen time to Swiss documentary film. This genre has a long tradition in Switzerland, and works in this category have also earned an excellent reputation abroad. Several Swiss documentary films have been invited to major festivals such as those in Berlin and Cannes. Nowadays, Swiss documentary films are also shown in major cinemas, especially in German-speaking Switzerland. Some have even achieved success with the public. For instance, Mani Matter – Warum syt dir so truurig? (Mani Matter – Why Are You So Sad?) (2002) by Friederich Kappeler ranks among the ten most-viewed documentary films in Switzerland between 1995 and 2012, according to Pro Cinema. "For more than a decade, feature films have been regarded as entertainment rather than as cultural products", says Marcy Goldberg, Lecturer in the History and Theory of Film at the University of Lucerne. Public television has taken over the role of the largest producer and distributor of documentary films. Many directors have cut their first rushes in its studios including Alain Tanner and Claude Goretta from the old guard and Lionel Baier and Fernand Melgar from the younger generation "This policy has probably facilitated the development of a documentary culture – not only for directors, but also among the general public", according to film historian Yvonne Zimmermann, co-author of one of the few Swiss books about documentary films. Numerous film clubs and specialised festivals – such as those at Nyon (devoted to documentary film) or Solothurn (focusing on Swiss film) – have played their part in winning the public over to this genre. War Photographer by Christian Frei (2001), which was nominated for an Oscar, was distributed in many countries, as were Elisabeth Kübler-Ross by Stefan Haupt (2003), Die Frau mit den 5 Elefanten (The Woman with Five Elephants) by Vadim Jendreyko (2009), Sounds of Insects by Peter Liechti (2009) and Cleveland vs. Wall Street by Jean-Stéphane Bron (2010). More than Honey, a documentary film by the director Markus Imhoof, looks at bee mortality across the globe. It was premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2012 and was shown at the Hamburg Film Festival in the same year. This film was chosen as the most successful Swiss cinema film of the year in 2012 and the most successful Swiss documentary film of all time. As well as the Swiss Film Prize, it won the highest national awards for documentary films in both Germany and Austria.

Internationally known Swiss filmmakers and actors

Xavier Koller, who had already earned a place in Swiss cinema history with Das gefrorene Herz (Frozen Heart) (1979) and Der Schwarze Tanner (Tanner - The Rebellion) (1986), won an Oscar for the best foreign film with his drama about refugees, Reise der Hoffnung (Journey of Hope). This film tells the story of a Kurdish family who flee to Switzerland in search of a better life. However, he has yet to make a big breakthrough in Hollywood. H. R. Giger – Hansruedi Giger, whose full name is Hans Rudolf Giger although he is better known as HR Giger – was born at Chur in 1940. This painter and visual artist has also won an Oscar. In 1980, he took the "Best Achievement for Visual Effects" award for the design of the filmic world for Ridley Scott's Alien, including the creature from which it takes its title. A man who can certainly be credited with stamina is Oliver Keller – he literally goes through fire and water as a stunt man for the stars. Another renowned figure is Basel-born Arthur Cohn, whose collaboration on scripts led to his initial contacts with the American film industry. He has since become Switzerland's most successful film producer, and is in fact the only non-American producer to have his own star in Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame. Another director whose dreams have come true – to borrow a phrase from the German title of his film Finding Neverland – is Marc Forster of Graubünden. He learned filmcraft in New York and was nominated for an Oscar with his very first film, Monsters Ball. He also directed the Bond movie Quantum of Solace: this adventure includes an appearance by the Swiss actor Anatole Taubman, who played leading and supporting roles in over 50 cinema and television productions. Ursula Andress, who appeared as the original Bond girl in Dr. No (1962), has also achieved international fame. Silvio Soldini, an Italian-Swiss filmmaker, released his most successful film to date – Pane e Tulipani (Bread and Tulips) – in 2000. It won several of the David di Donatello awards that are the Italian equivalent of the Oscars, in categories such as Best Film of the Year, Best Direction and Best Male Lead for the performance by Bruno Ganz.
Ganz, a Swiss actor, performs at international level; he achieved fame through several roles in films such as Wim Wenders' The American Friend and Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire) from the mid-1970s onwards. Ganz played Adolf Hitler in Der Untergang (The Downfall), a film produced by Bernd Eichinger. His acting prowess in this role was acclaimed in various media.

Film festivals and open air events

Locarno Film Festival Vision du Réel – Nyon International Film Festival Solothurn Film Days Zurich Film Festival Fantoche – International Festival of Animation Film in Baden Winterthur Short Film Festival Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF)

Further links

Swiss films