Utopia blues

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Movie
German title Utopia blues
Original title Utopia blues
Country of production Switzerland
original language Swiss German
Publishing year 2001
length 97 minutes
Rod
Director Stefan Haupt
script Stefan Haupt
production Rudolf Santschi
music Tino Ulrich
camera Stéphane Kuthy
cut Stefan Kälin
occupation

Utopia Blues is a Swiss feature film about mental illness and growing up. It is the story of a young man who defies the rules of the game in society. The film asks where the line between “healthy” and “sick” is. Stefan Haupt quotes the well-known psychiatrist Ronald D. Laing : "Illnesses can also be healthy reactions to sick conditions."

action

The 18-year-old Raffael Hasler has the motto: “Live totally or die totally!” - nothing in between. His greatest wish is to become famous as a freelance musician. He is burning their first CD with his friend Dani and dreams of a breakthrough. To celebrate their work, they take an unauthorized spraying drive, during which they continue to dream of great success.

Raffael “must” put his utopias into practice, uncompromisingly do what he thinks is right. But his longings and ideals grow over his head and drive him off track. For example, he makes a spontaneous appearance in the middle of the busy Hardbrücke , blocking the journey of a public bus. It gets to the point that he has to be sedated with narcotics at home and taken away. He is diagnosed with manic depression.

He is placed in a clinic where he befriends a presumably drug addict who tells him about an Indian ritual: The Indians tied "crazy people" to a tree and let them rage and scream until they calmed down. Then they would have untied her again. In the clinic, Raffael wants to ban the other inmates from playing music . He seems to be averse to music now as it was she who brought him to the clinic. Once, Raffael gets a visit from Dani, who tells him that their band is involved in the Malans Open Air . Raffael wants to be released from the clinic immediately. You don't understand because it takes another three months to perform. He freaks out and smashes his guitar against a wall.

Dani is now in a boarding school in Ins (his parents sent him there as a punishment for the spraying trip with Raffael). Later, Raffael is also sent to boarding school (a psychiatrist recommends it so that he has a regular daily structure). Mythology is also taught in the boarding school. The teacher relates that Odin hung on the World Tree ( Yggdrasil ) for nine days and nine nights, without eating or drinking , just to receive the gift of speech.

Dani installed musical instruments in the school bunker . But Raffael still doesn't want to know anything about the music, he's even prohibited from doing so. Raffael and a quiet boarding school student with a back problem named Sara get closer. When he finally dared to make music again later, he was forbidden to do so. He escapes and hides in a basement room.

There he writes his "Odin rock opera ". Dani is skeptical at first, but eventually, together with a fourth student, they perform the opera on a small scale at the end of the school year. The song contains the famous Edda verses about Odin's self-sacrifice, but somewhat shortened:

"I know that I was hanging
on the windy tree,
myself, myself,
on that tree, because nobody knows
from which root it grows."

The opera is a complete success, but the joy is soon clouded: Due to the death of Raphael's grandfather, about whom he was not informed because of a misunderstanding, a world collapses for Raffael.

At the end of the film you see Raffael on a tree with a plastic bag in which he has a rope. It is first suggested that Raffael wants to kill himself. But he didn't fasten the rope around his neck, but around his feet. So he dangles upside down, streaming with tears of joy.

background

Utopia Blues is based on real events. The basis is Marianne Rutz's notes about her manic-depressive son Lukas, who committed suicide.

music

The music used is produced by Tino Ulrich, one of the actors. It is difficult to classify, but very atmospheric music.

Reviews

“A gripping drama based on the authentic case of student suicide, which symbolizes the creative potential of young people and confronts it with all possible forms of structural violence. The first feature film by a documentary filmmaker who deals with repression and exclusion and calls for dialogue between the generations. "

- Lexicon of international film

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Marianne Rutz. Utopia Blues: Depression, Mania and Suicide in Adolescence. Zurich 2002. ISBN 3-7152-1039-7
  2. ^ Utopia Blues. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 29, 2018 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used