EMMA.

After Clueless (Amy Heckerling, 1995) comes Autumn de Wilde’s adaptation of the Austen novel Emma. The explanation for her stylized title ‘EMMA.’ is, so de Wilde to RadioTimes, “There’s a period at the end of Emma because it’s a period film”. So it is only right that this version of Emma is set in its original setting; England in the early 19th century.

Spoiled young woman Emma lives with her widowed father (Bill Nighy) alone in a big country house in Highbury. In her daily boredom, she soon discovers that she can entertain herself by playing matchmaker. She engineers the marriage between her beloved governess and a widowed man. But as she is now deprived of the only motherly figure she knows, she turns her attention to naive girl Harriet Smith, whom she declared her companion. Despite knowing that Harriet is in love and courted by a local farmer, Emma coaxed her into refusing Mr. Martin and instead orchestrates a relationship between the vicar Elton and her, whom Emma thinks more fitting. The plot thickens when Emma is soon made aware of the fact that not all her arrangements will work out in her favor. Her neighbour and brother-in-law Mr. Knightley is the only one to be mindful of her vanity and naiveté. At that same time, Emma finds herself attracted to good looking Mr. Frank Churchill, while it is rumored that Knightley himself is taken by the accomplished Jane Fairfax. Being at the center of all these events, Emma gets tangled up quickly.  Capering about in the lavish society, she is ultimately confronted with the question of growing up, assuming responsibility for her actions and finding her place in the world. 

Autumn de Wilde’s directorial debut puts a quirky, rom-comesque spin on the already comedic original story. Watching this film wasn’t a completely different experience than watching Clueless, apart from the admittedly gorgeous setting and decor they pulled off. At times it actually felt like they recast Clueless and then had them dress up and talk fancily. In a good way though. It is definitely an enjoyable film, albeit not outstanding. The cast was splendid, with Bill Nighy portraying a valetudinarian old man (quite honestly one of his better roles) and Johnny Flynn being his cuddly and adorable self through his character of Knightley. 

De Wilde artfully juggles with banter and benevolent bestialities to deliver a nicely dressed up film. 

If you have read the novel it is definitely fun seeing this film I believe. And if you have loved and worshipped Paul Rudd in Clueless as I have growing up (still do tbh), then don’t worry, Johnny Flynn (almost) does him justice. I think you don’t even have to love period pieces to like this film.

Should I see Emma? Go see it if you wanna know what this famous novel is about (always good to know what people are talking about) and like a quirky movie.

★★★☆☆

Film Release (Switzerland): 5.3.20 - Film Release (Australia): 13.2.20 - Film Release (USA): 6.2.20

Film Data: Director: Autumn de Wilde - Writers: Elanor Catton, Jane Austen - Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Bill Nighy, Mia Goth, Josh O'Connor, Callum Turner, Rupert Graves - 124’ - 2020 - UK - Universal Pictures

Photo and Video: © Universal Pictures International Switzerland. All Rights Reserved.

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About Endlessness by Roy Andersson

A waiter that forgets that he is pouring wine and lets it run over the glass and onto the neatly ironed tablecloth. A woman in a train station taking off her shoes, because the heel is broken. A caring father who stops in the pouring rain to tie his little daughters shoe laces. These are some of the scenes that stuck with me for a while after seeing this film. Roy Andersson’s new film About endlessness (Om det oändliga) is a manifesto of human existence. 

In the 76 minutes we are presented with thirty-two static shots. If we go along with the mythological analogy of life being a thread, then Andersson weaves a whole tapestry with his thirty-two threads. Because even if every single shot would work as it’s own little universe, they all still depend on one another to make up that thing we call living. Seemingly banal scenes from everyday life follow one another, one not given more attention than the other. They are all roughly of the same length so that a scene with german soldiers marching towards their death sentence is given the same weight as a woman enjoying champagne in a restaurant. And that is exactly Andersson’s statement; in the big tapestry that I will now call existence (because analogies), both scenes have always existed right next to each other, they both happened all the same, one as absurd as the other. 

In a scene where a highschool boy explains the theory of thermodynamics to his friend, Andersson slips us a possible explanation for his film. “You are energy, I am energy, and both of our energies will never cease to exist; they can only be transformed into something new.” So in his movie, Andersson moves from scene to scene will all of them constantly being transformed into something new in front of the backdrop the notion of ‘endlessness’, because ultimately ennui will always be the same, doesn’t matter what form it is portrayed in. 

However, Andersson’s film is not necessarily a pessimistic one. We recognize the beauty in the bleakness and the sublime in what is senseless. “Isn’t it all still fantastic?” “What do you mean?” “All of it.” (oh hey, a scene where the sentimentality doesn’t bother me for once but actually fits perfectly)

As well as introspective, this film is deeply comedic too. You can’t help but chuckle at the sheer pointlessness. You laugh because you’ve been there, you realize how utterly ridiculous it all is in the end. A good moment was, when the panicked priest who lost faith in God gets shuffled out of the doctor’s office because they’re closing and the psychiatrist has to catch the bus - with endlessness and a never ending time frame being the whole theme of the film. 

While watching the film I kept asking myself: “How is he going to end this film, how does one even do that?” Turns out, exactly like that. I think Andersson couldn’t have closed the ‘story’ better than the way that he did. Because, as is shown in different scenes during the film, we are always on our way, quite literally and metaphorically. We are on trains, we wait for buses and we walk to birthday parties in the pouring rain. Maybe we are on our way to realizing what we believe in or, more fittingly, do not believe in. And, sometimes, we just get stuck in transit.

So should you go see this film? Yes absolutely. Go in with the expectation that this is going to be a slow-paced, bleak-coloured and quiet little film and you will love it. Maybe not. But please do and don’t tell me if you didn’t. Goodbye (yes, this is to be read as a quote from the film)

★★★★☆

Release Date (Switzerland): 05.03.20 - Release Date (US): 12.06.20

Film Data: Director: Roy Andersson, Writer: Roy Andersson - Cast: Magnus Wallgren, Lisa Blohm, Kristina Ekmark, Martin Serner, Jessica Louthander, Tatiana Delaunay, Anders Hellström - 76’ - 2019 - Sweden/Norway - Xenix Film distribution

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Moskau Einfach! (One Way to Moscow) - English + German Review

One-way to Moscow - English

Against the backdrop of the secret-files-scandal of 1989, Lewinsky succeeded in making an actually funny comedy. For an hour and a half, I had my *very Swiss* parents in the cinema next to me cackling at things they recognize from “the old times” and gushing about polit-gossip from “back in the day”. Hilarious (not so much for some of the other viewers shushing them – which might or might not have been me). 

Viktor Schuler, a Swiss police officer, is sent off on an undercover mission in the Zurich Schauspielhaus, where he is supposed to spy upon the theatre ensemble who is allegedly planning some dangerous demonstration against Switzerland. Because naturally artists and actors are all anarchists and are of course secretly terrorists. (The Swiss at that time were afraid of the Russians and wanted to "protect" Switzerland from turning into a totalitarian dictatorship - by spying on more than 900.000 people in their daily lives and creating files of them to oversee their every move, because whoever had a leftist political opinion was THE ENEMY). During the course of his mission, Viktor is then forced to question his and others’ ideologies after he meets the spirited actress Odile who seems to show him an alternate reality of what he and the world could be. 

However, at different points in the second half of the film, it felt like a bad Hollywood rom-com. The emotionality and sappiness were over the top. I felt like the audience in the Schauspieltheater during the recital of the ensemble’s play - who was ooh-ing and aww-ing at the impromptu love scene between Victor/Walo and Odile - was the exact same as the audience who sat in the cinema with me tonight. So I guess Lewinsky actually managed to pull off a realistic portrait of my country, with all the things I hate about it included. 

It would have been of interest to show less of the over-stylised love story and more of the secret-files-scandal or more of the comedy. Or just make it less emotional, but I guess that might just be my taste getting in the way of objectivity here. The film doesn’t need to make the polit-historical backdrop the main thing in this movie. The aim of this film was, I believe, to create a comedy set at that time. And that it did perfectly fine. 

At this point, I want to compliment the film on its cinematography. Some shots are genuinely nicely done,  to watch. The coloring and tone of the movie are aesthetically pleasing. 

I believe that this movie is enjoyable even if you’re not Swiss. However, knowing the country and its customs – sometimes quirky, odd and yes, frustrating, but I shouldn’t make this a sociological analysis – is certainly a plus when watching this. A film such as Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite may just as well be as international but seems more approachable or even universal than Moskau Einfach in its themes and conventions (Yes, I know you can’t compare these two movies).

So, go watch this if you’re Swiss – always fun to see what your own country is up to – or go see it if you’re not Swiss but want to acquire some new material to mock Switzerland with. It’s got all the clichés you will already have heard of (sketchy bank deals, funny language, laughable policemen, all the red tape) and even more to stock up on. 

Moskau Einfach – Deutsch

Mit dem Fichen-Skandal von 1989 als Hintergrund schafft es Micha Lewinsky eine tatsächlich unterhaltende Komödie zu schaffen. Meine Eltern, selbst zu dieser Zeit in der Schweiz gross geworden, haben während den ganzen eineinhalb Stunden Laufzeit über „die guten alten Zeiten“ getuschelt und über die Politdramen der Zeit getratscht. Für alle Involvierten äusserst amüsant wahrscheinlich, für alle Anderen, unter Anderem für diejenigen, die ihnen böse Blicke zuwarfen (mag ich selbst gewesen sein) vermutlich weniger. 

Viktor Schuler ist ein Schweizer Polizist und wird gedrängt, illegal im Zürcher Schauspielhaus ein Theater-Ensemble zu bespitzeln, das angeblich einen gefährlichen Plot gegen die Regierung plant. Denn, allbekannt, sind ja Künstler und Schauspieler alle Anarchisten und darum sehr wahrscheinlich auch Terroristen. Die Schweiz., um diese Zeit, hatte Angst vor den „bösen“ Russen und wollten sie „beschützen“ vor der anscheinend imminenten Gefahr eine totalitäre Diktatur zu werden. So nahm die Regierung es auf sich, heldenhaft 900'000 Menschen abzuhören und sie im privaten Leben zu überwachen – für die allgemeine Sicherheit im Land – wobei sie Akten von vor allem links-politischen Personen zusammenstellten, die sogenannten Fichen. Während seiner Ermittlung sieht sich Viktor gezwungen, seine und andere Ideologien zu hinterfragen. Er lernt die Schauspielerin Odile Lehmann kennen, die ihm zeigt, was er und die Welt sein könnten.

Die Komödie ist durchaus gelungen, jedoch fühlte sich der zweite Hälfte des Films an wie eine schlechte Hollywood Rom-Com. Der Handlungsbogen der Liebesgeschichte wird überspitzt emotional und kitschig dargestellt. Das Publikum im Schauspielhaus Zürich, das bei der Premiere überschwänglich mitklatschte und mitfühlte bei der Liebesszene zwischen Odile und Viktor, war dasselbe wie bei mir im Kino. Insofern müsste man zugeben, dass Lewinsky hier die Schweiz artgerecht darzustellen wusste. 

Man hätte hierbei die überschwängliche Liebesgeschichte reduzieren können und mehr Fichen-Skandal und Füdlibürgertum hineinmischen können. Aber ich denke, hier steht mein eigener Geschmack meiner Objektivität im Weg. Allgemein ist der Mix gut gelungen. Es muss keine Aufarbeitung des polit-historischen Fichen-Skandals stattfinden. Das Ziel war es, denke ich, eine Komödie, die sich in dieser Zeit abspielt, zu machen. Und genau das ist es. 

Ich bin mir sicher, dass dieser Film unterhaltsam ist, auch wenn man nicht von der Schweiz ist. Trotzdem macht das Meiste erst Sinn, wenn  man mit der Schweiz vertraut ist. Die biederen Büroangestellten und die sogenannte Bourgeois-Bohème der Schweiz sind Archetypen im Land, genau so wie das Aromat, der TipTopf und das „Beefy“ im Silberkugel fast schon Nationalhelden sind. Der ironische Umgang mit diesen Eigenarten der Schweiz ist eben nur dann effektiv, wenn man sie kennt. 

★★★☆☆

Release Date (Switzerland): 13.02.2020

Film Data: Director: Micha Lewinsky - Writer: Micha Lewinsky Plinio Bachmann Barbara Sommer - Cast: Philippe Graber, Miriam Stein, Mike Müller, Micheal Maertens, Oriana Schrage, Fabian Krüger - 99’ - 2020 - Langfilm

Photo and Video: Copyright © 2020 Vinca Film

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