In the white city

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Movie
German title In the white city
Original title In the ville blanche
Country of production Portugal , Switzerland
original language Portuguese , German , English , French
Publishing year 1983
length 107 minutes
Rod
Director Alain Tanner
script Alain Tanner
production Paulo Branco
music Jean-Luc Barbier
camera Acácio de Almeida
cut Laurent Uhler
occupation

In the white city is a Swiss - Portuguese film by the Swiss director Alain Tanner from 1983.

The backwards clock in the inn where Rosa works

action

Paul is a seaman. He works as an on-board mechanic in the noisy engine room. His ship docks in Lisbon and he goes ashore. He decides not to go back to the ship. He roams the city and takes in their impressions. He writes letters to his wife Elisa and sends her Super 8 video messages home to Switzerland. Then he begins a passionate affair with the pensioner Rosa. He continues to write to his wife and does not hide Rosa from her, while he continues to assure his wife of his love. After further enigmatic letters, Elisa finally announces war from far-away Switzerland, while Paul is looking for Rosa, who has since disappeared, in Lisbon.

reception

The poetic film develops a calm, intense atmosphere. The convincing acting performances of Ganz and Madruga convey the sadness of the meaning-seeking spontaneous dropout Paul, but also of Rosa's oppressive life. Both are looking for meaning and fulfillment from different directions, and for inner peace. The morbid charm of sun-drenched Lisbon and its decaying old streets form the framework.

With the film, Alain Tanner won praise from international critics. It was screened at various festivals and in 1984 received the César for best French-language film.

literature

  • Johannes Beringer: Review of the film, in: Filmkritik , No. 317 of May 1983, pp. 217–219.

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ IMDb
  2. ↑ artfilm.ch or spiegel.de