Les printemps de notre vie (fragments)

Switzerland, April 2003
FILM, Documentary, 120 min.

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directed by
Francis Reusser
Written by
Francis Reusser
Status
In distribution

This film is motivated by Francis Reusser's felt need to talk about himself and his friends from the days of their collective projects, militancy and utopias. A house plays an important role as the birthplace of a theory from built friendships and love affairs undermining the values of a society, inspiring some fortifying acts of insolence and fertile thought. It is a film about an extended, 40-year-old familiy that the film-maker puts before us. What happend in French-speaking Switzerland between the national exhibitions in 1964 and 2002? Fifteen or so people talk bluntly about yesterday in the light of today. Their faces and voices mingle with the archives of local and international history. The music and songs ar contemporary. Personal and political stories weave a dense plot which Francis Reusser organises as he pleases. It is his voice-over narrative that structures the film. He tells of the desire to confront and face up to one another and to put to the test the landmarks of a time-tested collective imagination. This film contains communicative intelligence, humour and a lot of good – and sometimes bad – faith. Reusser is a master of surprise short-cuts! Above all, «Les Printemps de notre vie» is driven by a strong desire for cinema. Its sounds and images are given the time they need to take shape and «make a stand», as they used to say at the time, against the amnesia orchestrated by run-of-the-mill audiovisual fare. It is a fraternal, political film rooted in the beginning of this millenium.

credits

World Premiere
April 2003
Original Version
French,  colour, Beta SP, 120 min.
Production
Ciné Manufacture CMS SA, Le CinéAtelier Sàrl, RTS Radio Télévision Suisse
Producer
directed by
Francis Reusser
Written by
Francis Reusser
Editing
Francis Reusser, Emmanuelle de Riedmatten

World Sales / World Rights

World Rights
SAGA Production Sàrl

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