SUBTLE SUBVERSION: THE FILMS OF ALAIN TANNER
July 26–August 19, 2018
Champion of dreamers and dropouts, political radicals and disaffected youth, the Swiss filmmaker Alain Tanner is “among the last lions of the heroic age of the European art film” (Metrograph). Contemporary of the French New Wave and involved in England’s Free Cinema group while living in London, Tanner collaborated with the celebrated author/critic John Berger on a loose trilogy of films—La salamandre (1971), The Middle of the World (1974), and Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 (1976)—that helped put Swiss cinema on the map. These films launched a body of work that combined social engagement and political critique with, wonders of wonders, a touch of humanity. As Dave Kehr wrote, they brought “thinking and caring together again.” - Jason Sanders, Film Note Writer
Film Schedule
La salamandre
Thursday, July 26 7 PM
Switzerland, 1971
Introduction by Jon Winet
Two self-proclaimed writers attempt to retell how a young woman (the amazing Bulle Ogier) shot her uncle in Tanner and cowriter John Berger’s portrait of the free and the defiant—and of those who get in their way. “A witty, shaggy, freewheeling tale” (Vogue).
The Middle of the World
Sunday, July 29 7 PM
Switzerland, 1974
John Berger cowrote the probing, teasingly ambiguous script for this film about the love affair between a Swiss engineer and an Italian immigrant waitress, turning a femme-fatale tragedy into a tale of the growth of a woman’s consciousness.
Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000
Switzerland, 1976
Friday, August 3 7 PM
Tanner’s most celebrated work (coauthored by John Berger) tracks a ragtag group of Swiss dropouts and dreamers and the little refuge they create for themselves. “Seeing it today . . . its undefeated sanity is bracing” (Vogue).
Charles, Dead or Alive
Switzerland, 1969
Sunday, August 5 5 PM
An aging conformist drops out of conventional life and joins a youthful anarchist community in Tanner’s first feature, “the most intelligent film inspired by the spirit of May ’68” (Nouvel observateur).
Messidor
Switzerland, 1979
Saturday, August 11 8 PM
Two fierce young women hit Switzerland’s not-so-open roads in Tanner’s claustrophobic road movie, a deeply pessimistic vision of social restriction that’s more proto–riot grrrl than pre–Thelma and Louise.
Light Years Away
Switzerland, France, 1981
Wednesday, August 15 7 PM
Tanner’s first English-language work follows a young drifter (Mick Ford) and a crotchety recluse (Trevor Howard) as they make their way through a mystical, windswept Ireland. “A film that seems to pulsate with love and care for life” (Bruno Jaeggi).
In the White City
Switzerland, Portugal, 1983
Sunday, August 19 4:30 PM
One of the key works of eighties European cinema, and one of the great city films, Tanner’s poem/film in praise of solitude and the flâneur tracks a disaffected sailor (Bruno Ganz) wandering the streets of Lisbon.
show less
July 26–August 19, 2018
Champion of dreamers and dropouts, political radicals and disaffected youth, the Swiss filmmaker Alain Tanner is “among the last lions of the heroic age of the European art film” (Metrograph). Contemporary of the French New Wave and involved in England’s Free Cinema group while living in London, Tanner collaborated with the celebrated author/critic John Berger on a loose trilogy of films—La salamandre (1971), The Middle of the World (1974), and Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 (1976)—that helped put Swiss cinema on the map. These films launched a body of work that combined social engagement and political critique with, wonders of wonders, a touch of humanity. As Dave Kehr wrote, they brought “thinking and caring together again.” - Jason Sanders, Film Note Writer
Film Schedule
La salamandre
Thursday, July 26 7 PM
Switzerland, 1971
Introduction by Jon Winet
Two self-proclaimed writers attempt to retell how a young woman (the amazing Bulle Ogier) shot her uncle in Tanner and cowriter John Berger’s portrait of the free and the defiant—and of those who get in their way. “A witty, shaggy, freewheeling tale” (Vogue).
The Middle of the World
Sunday, July 29 7 PM
Switzerland, 1974
John Berger cowrote the probing, teasingly ambiguous script for this film about the love affair between a Swiss engineer and an Italian immigrant waitress, turning a femme-fatale tragedy into a tale of the growth of a woman’s consciousness.
Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000
Switzerland, 1976
Friday, August 3 7 PM
Tanner’s most celebrated work (coauthored by John Berger) tracks a ragtag group of Swiss dropouts and dreamers and the little refuge they create for themselves. “Seeing it today . . . its undefeated sanity is bracing” (Vogue).
Charles, Dead or Alive
Switzerland, 1969
Sunday, August 5 5 PM
An aging conformist drops out of conventional life and joins a youthful anarchist community in Tanner’s first feature, “the most intelligent film inspired by the spirit of May ’68” (Nouvel observateur).
Messidor
Switzerland, 1979
Saturday, August 11 8 PM
Two fierce young women hit Switzerland’s not-so-open roads in Tanner’s claustrophobic road movie, a deeply pessimistic vision of social restriction that’s more proto–riot grrrl than pre–Thelma and Louise.
Light Years Away
Switzerland, France, 1981
Wednesday, August 15 7 PM
Tanner’s first English-language work follows a young drifter (Mick Ford) and a crotchety recluse (Trevor Howard) as they make their way through a mystical, windswept Ireland. “A film that seems to pulsate with love and care for life” (Bruno Jaeggi).
In the White City
Switzerland, Portugal, 1983
Sunday, August 19 4:30 PM
One of the key works of eighties European cinema, and one of the great city films, Tanner’s poem/film in praise of solitude and the flâneur tracks a disaffected sailor (Bruno Ganz) wandering the streets of Lisbon.
SUBTLE SUBVERSION: THE FILMS OF ALAIN TANNER
July 26–August 19, 2018
Champion of dreamers and dropouts, political radicals and disaffected youth, the Swiss filmmaker Alain Tanner is “among the last lions of the heroic age of the European art film” (Metrograph). Contemporary of the French New Wave and involved in England’s Free Cinema group while living in London, Tanner collaborated with the celebrated author/critic John Berger on a loose trilogy of films—La salamandre (1971), The Middle of the World (1974), and Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 (1976)—that helped put Swiss cinema on the map. These films launched a body of work that combined social engagement and political critique with, wonders of wonders, a touch of humanity. As Dave Kehr wrote, they brought “thinking and caring together again.” - Jason Sanders, Film Note Writer
Film Schedule
La salamandre
Thursday, July 26 7 PM
Switzerland, 1971
Introduction by Jon Winet
Two self-proclaimed writers attempt to retell how a young woman (the amazing Bulle Ogier) shot her uncle in Tanner and cowriter John Berger’s portrait of the free and the defiant—and of those who get in their way. “A witty, shaggy, freewheeling tale” (Vogue).
The Middle of the World
Sunday, July 29 7 PM
Switzerland, 1974
John Berger cowrote the probing, teasingly ambiguous script for this film about the love affair between a Swiss engineer and an Italian immigrant waitress, turning a femme-fatale tragedy into a tale of the growth of a woman’s consciousness.
Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000
Switzerland, 1976
Friday, August 3 7 PM
Tanner’s most celebrated work (coauthored by John Berger) tracks a ragtag group of Swiss dropouts and dreamers and the little refuge they create for themselves. “Seeing it today . . . its undefeated sanity is bracing” (Vogue).
Charles, Dead or Alive
Switzerland, 1969
Sunday, August 5 5 PM
An aging conformist drops out of conventional life and joins a youthful anarchist community in Tanner’s first feature, “the most intelligent film inspired by the spirit of May ’68” (Nouvel observateur).
Messidor
Switzerland, 1979
Saturday, August 11 8 PM
Two fierce young women hit Switzerland’s not-so-open roads in Tanner’s claustrophobic road movie, a deeply pessimistic vision of social restriction that’s more proto–riot grrrl than pre–Thelma and Louise.
Light Years Away
Switzerland, France, 1981
Wednesday, August 15 7 PM
Tanner’s first English-language work follows a young drifter (Mick Ford) and a crotchety recluse (Trevor Howard) as they make their way through a mystical, windswept Ireland. “A film that seems to pulsate with love and care for life” (Bruno Jaeggi).
In the White City
Switzerland, Portugal, 1983
Sunday, August 19 4:30 PM
One of the key works of eighties European cinema, and one of the great city films, Tanner’s poem/film in praise of solitude and the flâneur tracks a disaffected sailor (Bruno Ganz) wandering the streets of Lisbon.
read more
July 26–August 19, 2018
Champion of dreamers and dropouts, political radicals and disaffected youth, the Swiss filmmaker Alain Tanner is “among the last lions of the heroic age of the European art film” (Metrograph). Contemporary of the French New Wave and involved in England’s Free Cinema group while living in London, Tanner collaborated with the celebrated author/critic John Berger on a loose trilogy of films—La salamandre (1971), The Middle of the World (1974), and Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 (1976)—that helped put Swiss cinema on the map. These films launched a body of work that combined social engagement and political critique with, wonders of wonders, a touch of humanity. As Dave Kehr wrote, they brought “thinking and caring together again.” - Jason Sanders, Film Note Writer
Film Schedule
La salamandre
Thursday, July 26 7 PM
Switzerland, 1971
Introduction by Jon Winet
Two self-proclaimed writers attempt to retell how a young woman (the amazing Bulle Ogier) shot her uncle in Tanner and cowriter John Berger’s portrait of the free and the defiant—and of those who get in their way. “A witty, shaggy, freewheeling tale” (Vogue).
The Middle of the World
Sunday, July 29 7 PM
Switzerland, 1974
John Berger cowrote the probing, teasingly ambiguous script for this film about the love affair between a Swiss engineer and an Italian immigrant waitress, turning a femme-fatale tragedy into a tale of the growth of a woman’s consciousness.
Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000
Switzerland, 1976
Friday, August 3 7 PM
Tanner’s most celebrated work (coauthored by John Berger) tracks a ragtag group of Swiss dropouts and dreamers and the little refuge they create for themselves. “Seeing it today . . . its undefeated sanity is bracing” (Vogue).
Charles, Dead or Alive
Switzerland, 1969
Sunday, August 5 5 PM
An aging conformist drops out of conventional life and joins a youthful anarchist community in Tanner’s first feature, “the most intelligent film inspired by the spirit of May ’68” (Nouvel observateur).
Messidor
Switzerland, 1979
Saturday, August 11 8 PM
Two fierce young women hit Switzerland’s not-so-open roads in Tanner’s claustrophobic road movie, a deeply pessimistic vision of social restriction that’s more proto–riot grrrl than pre–Thelma and Louise.
Light Years Away
Switzerland, France, 1981
Wednesday, August 15 7 PM
Tanner’s first English-language work follows a young drifter (Mick Ford) and a crotchety recluse (Trevor Howard) as they make their way through a mystical, windswept Ireland. “A film that seems to pulsate with love and care for life” (Bruno Jaeggi).
In the White City
Switzerland, Portugal, 1983
Sunday, August 19 4:30 PM
One of the key works of eighties European cinema, and one of the great city films, Tanner’s poem/film in praise of solitude and the flâneur tracks a disaffected sailor (Bruno Ganz) wandering the streets of Lisbon.
show less
Date/Times:
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA)
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