Vive la mort

Reusser’s first fiction feature film, which was selected at the very first Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes in 1969, was shot in September 1968, affected by the events of May, which the young director was heavily involved with. Combining humor, irony and idealism, the filmmaker tells the story of a young couple that is fed up with life and passes through the clichés of paternalistic Switzerland. This biting criticism of contemporary capitalistic society was not consistently well received in Switzerland (where the Heimatfilm parody does not go over well), but it did considerably better in France. (Locarno Festival)