Well-fortified Switzerland (1939)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Well-fortified Switzerland |
| Country of production | Switzerland |
| original language | Swiss German |
| Publishing year | 1939 |
| length | 94 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Hermann Haller |
| script |
Hans Hausamann Ernst Iros Hermann Haller |
| production | Hans Hausamann |
| music | Hans Haug |
| camera |
Werner Brandes Ganzli Walter |
| cut | Hermann Haller |
| occupation | |
| |
Well-fortified Switzerland is a semi-documentary Swiss film with a game plot from 1939 by Hermann Haller . It stands entirely in the spirit of intellectual national defense and was a direct reaction to the political events in Central Europe in 1938/39 ( annexation of Austria , Munich agreement with subsequent annexation of the Sudetenland , so-called smashing of the rest of Czech Republic , Italian occupation of Albania ).
content
Switzerland in the last year of peace. "1939 is the year of intellectual mobilization: the country is preparing morally for a war that is believed to be inevitable, since the dictatorships have simply 'swallowed' other small states such as Czechoslovakia and Albania - after denying their independence", says Hervé Dumont begins his analysis of the idea of "intellectual national defense" shortly before the start of the Second World War . This film is set in this temporal and political environment:
A military defile marches through a small Swiss town to the sound of a trumpet , with the intention of strengthening the patriotic spirit and promoting national pride. The residents rush to their windows to watch the march past. The local teacher also wants to make his national contribution and teaches his students the history of the Confederation. Lectures and film screenings are held in public events, which are only intended to serve one idea: to make clear to the population that there is an indispensable need for solidarity between the Swiss people and their army. Not unlike the German model, young people are prepared for a possible armed conflict with targeted sporting skills, reading maps and shooting exercises.
In the villages and towns, the population puts together numerous groups that should concentrate entirely on defending individual home areas in the event of an attack. Women take part in so-called "Samaritan courses" and are supposed to ensure that war-disabled Swiss men are taken care of. The Swiss civilian becomes an upright soldier, ready to devote his life to protecting his homeland. The borders are being fortified and reinforced by new soldiers. In a neighboring barracks, the troops are familiarized with the handling of new weapons made in Switzerland. Finally a field preacher speaks pathetic words to which civilians and soldiers alike listen devoutly. Then the national anthem is played. The message is unmistakable: Switzerland has become defensive!
Production notes
Well-fortified Switzerland was created for inexpensive CHF 137,000 in the last major months of the crisis before the outbreak of war in September 1939: The film was shot from March to July 1939 in the studios of "Tonfilm Frobenius AG" near Münchenstein and in all parts of Switzerland (exterior shots). The premiere took place a good three and a half weeks before the start of the war, on August 9, 1939, in the Rex cinema in Zurich. The film premiered in French-speaking Switzerland on April 5, 1940 in Lausanne and Geneva.
For German camera veteran Werner Brandes , Wehrhaft Schweiz was his first film in exile in Switzerland. Director Haller's younger brother Werner Haller (1914–1943), who was killed in an air raid on Berlin, worked here as a unit manager. Both father Jakob Haller , an architect, designed the film structures. Lukas Ammann made his film debut here.
After the outbreak of war, an export ban was imposed on the film by the Swiss military censors.
Political background
Well-fortified Switzerland was initiated by the Swiss Federal Military Department and produced by Captain Hans Hausamann , who is also the head of a private secret service called "Büro Ha". Born in Appenzell, as Hervé Dumont notes, he was considered “an ambivalent, irritating, arrogant and fascinating personality” in his time. He “fanatically advocates nationalism and militarism. His hatred of leftists and pacifists drives this vicious anti-Semite into dubious society ”. Hausamann was also the press chief of the Swiss Officers' Society and was constantly agitating against the domestic, so-called red press. On the one hand, he was extremely open to German National Socialism. On the other hand, this did not seem to prevent Hausamann from involving the German émigré and Jew Ernst Iros (1885–1953), screenwriter, writer, journalist and dramaturge, who had lived in Montreux , Switzerland since 1935 , in the creation of the script.
reception
Financially speaking, the film was a huge success. Dumont calls Fortified Switzerland a “technically flawless” film: “Rhythmically structured narrative, coherent structure, meaningful images without overdrawing. (...) Its burning topicality helps the film to an unexpected success with the public - 17 weeks of playing time in Zurich, 6 in Bern and St. Gallen, 5 in Basel - which arouses illusions about Haller as a director. The few studio scenes, however, do not require any staging skills. "
The Commander in Chief of Switzerland, General Henri Guisan , was also pleased with the cinematic result. Well-defended Switzerland shows “that not only our soldiers are at their posts, but also the men who have not been drafted, even our Swiss women and our youth. It shows how everyone does their best for the fatherland ”.
literature
- Hervé Dumont : The History of Swiss Film. Feature films 1896–1965. Lausanne 1987, p. 241 ff.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cf. Die Geistige Landesverteidigung, in: The history of Swiss film. Feature films 1896–1965. P. 239
- ^ Emil Hollenstein: Sound film studio Frobenius Müchenstein. "Well-fortified Switzerland". Schweizer Film = Film Suisse: official organ of Switzerland, accessed on June 12, 2020 .
- ↑ ibid., P. 242
- ^ Swiss Film, April 1, 1940