Jenatsch (film)

Jenatsch
Directed byDaniel Schmid
Written byDaniel Schmid
Martin Suter
Produced byLuciano Gloor
StarringVittorio Mezzogiorno
CinematographyRenato Berta
Edited byDaniela Roderer
Music byPino Donaggio
Release date
  • 1987 (1987)
Running time
97 minutes
CountriesSwitzerland
France
LanguageFrench

Jenatsch is a 1987 French-Swiss drama film directed by Daniel Schmid and written by Schmid and Martin Suter. It follows a journalist whose investigation into the historical figure Jürg Jenatsch leads him into a disorienting overlap of past and present. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival and later screened at festivals including La Rochelle, Neuchâtel, Buenos Aires, and Ankara.[1][2]

Synopsis

Sprecher, a journalist living with his girlfriend Nina, interviews an elderly anthropologist who once supervised the excavation of Jenatsch’s grave. After taking a small brass bell, he discovers that it can take him back in time. As Sprecher’s life becomes increasingly taken over by Jenatsch, his relationship with Nina falls apart and he is drawn into a violent confrontation.[1]

Cast

The cast includes:[3][4]

Production

The film was not a direct adaptation of Conrad Ferdinand Meyer’s novel Jürg Jenatsch. Martin Suter instead wrote a new story loosely based on the novel and the historical events.[5]

Reception

Filmdienst described the film as an elegantly staged and photographed dream play, but found that it ultimately drifted into something too non-committal.[3]

Festival screenings

The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.[2] Later festival screenings included the 1994 La Rochelle International Film Festival, the 2003 Troia International Film Festival, the 2010 Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival, the 2011 Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema, and the 2013 Ankara International Film Festival.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Jenatsch". Swiss Films (in German). Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Jenatsch". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Jenatsch". Filmdienst (in German). Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  4. ↑ "Jenatsch". Filmpodium (in German). Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  5. ↑ "Daniel Schmid auf den Spuren von «Jenatsch»". SRF Medienportal (in German). 27 November 1988. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
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