29/12/2008

In 2009, Swiss director Alain Tanner will turn 80 and all the young men born in 1976 who inherited the first name Jonah (from his film Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000) will be 33.

To celebrate the filmmaker’s long and successful career – which ended with Paul s’en va (“Paul Is Leaving”, 2003) – the French Cinémathèque in Paris is hosting a complete retrospective of his works from January 14-February 15. Tanner’s loyal collaborators – including producer Paulo Branco, actress Myriam Mézières and writers Antonio Tabucchi and Bernard Comment – will take part in the event alongside the director.

An emblematic figure of the New Swiss Cinema of the 60s and 70s, Tanner is internationally renowned (along with Jean-Luc Godard, he is clearly the best-known Swiss director) and has not merely devoted his energies to film creation. He campaigned tirelessly until the Swiss Confederation agreed to provide funding for film and draw up a law to this effect, starting with a small subsidy for documentaries in 1962 followed, ten years later, by backing for narrative features.

Moreover, the international success of his first major film, Charles, Dead or Alive (1969) – which represented Switzerland in Cannes Critics’ Week – and the triumph of The Salamander (1971) owe something to political indulgence.

Tanner may have hung up his director’s cap almost six years ago but he has not laid down his pen. In 2007, he published a work that is a must-read for all budding directors: “Ciné-Mélanges” (“Cine-Mixtures”, Editions du Seuil). It takes the form of an alphabet primer and includes reflections on film directing, outspoken remarks and other titillating comments.

He writes: "Film directing isn’t a job […]. Filmmaking can’t be learned. It’s a sort of disease you catch one day, without knowing why, and you can’t be cured […]. When a journalist commented one day that my curriculum vitae was overflowing and that I’d worked a lot, I expressed my surprise and replied that, on the contrary, I felt I hadn’t done a damned thing with my life".

Tanner goes on to write: "The world can perfectly content itself with good entertainment; we’ll accept this as long as it doesn’t overstep the boundaries – too quickly reached – of stupidity and dishonesty. But this isn’t enough, as we well know. […] You have to speak up and express your views, and it’s up to everyone to find their place and method, at the risk of only being heard by a minority."

And in a final extract: "At the end of the day, beauty is the only thing that matters. In every shot of every film, there must be a trace, however tiny, of beauty. […] Desire is an absolute necessity for filmmaking".

Tanner’s works can be (re-)discovered at the Swiss Cinémathèque in Lausanne from March 5, 2009.

(Translated from French)