Quote:
Marcel Martin, International Critics Week (Cannes 1974):
This is the most perfectly Brechtian film to come along in some time. This qualification, unfortunately too often used up, is here in evidence in the treatment of the image and the sound (use of intertitles and of off- screen voice) as well as in the conception of the entire work. The Death of the Flea Circus Director is a kind of political fable.Read More »
Synopsis:
Arthur and Marcel, two firemen, keep boredom at bay by improvising on stage, one on a keyboard the other on drums, tunes, poems and songs. Carol arrives, in search of her lover Armand. Accompanied by the musicians, she sings of her strange loves and leaves. Then Armand turns up, in search of Carol, and the disturbing Cigare…Read More »
Synopsis:
‘George takes care of his invalid wife and holds down a full-time job but is forced into retirement for health reasons. When an investment firm wipes out his life savings, George takes up a life of crime. He is soon driven to the brink of insanity over the unfortunate series of events that transpire.’ [Edited to correct inaccuracies.]
– Dan PavlidesRead More »
Quote:
That the critics baptized the wave which emerged at this time as the “new Swiss cinema” simply reflects the fact that the “old” Swiss cinema was unknown to the cinema-going public. Today, the appeal and energy of this first film remain undiminished, magnified by the exceptional stature and presence of François Simon and the sublimely uncluttered camera work of Renato Berta. Tanner drew his subject matter from what he saw of the events of May ’68 in Paris, which he covered for Swiss television. Unimpressed by the ideological pronouncements of the young demonstrators (Tanner was nearly 40 and mistrustful of the siren songs of militancy), he was more struck by the elderly people marching alongside them.Read More »