“Jacob’s Steed” shows a relationship between coercion and liberation
Published: Wednesday, Jan 17th 2024, 14:20
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"Jakobs Ross" is a novel by Silvia Tschui. Now the film adaptation is coming to cinemas. Director Katalin Gödrös has transformed the story of a young woman's struggle for self-determination in the 19th century into a gripping and modern relationship drama.
When the maid Elsie (Luna Wedler) becomes pregnant by the master of the house, he marries her off to servant Jakob (Valentin Postlmayr) to cover up his paternity. The newlyweds take their fate in their stride, as they are united by their desire for a more pleasurable, better life. Elsie wants to tour the world as a musician, while Jakob wants nothing more than a horse with which he can set up his own carriage driving business and earn a lot of money.
But for the time being, the two lead a life of hardship and disgrace on a poor tenant farm. With the pregnancy, from which Jakob would like to profit at some point, things do not go as they should. It is only thanks to her encounter with the Yenish Rico (Max Hubacher) that Elsie finds new hope and the strength to continue fighting for her dream of being an artist.
Parallel to Gödrös' grandmother
When Katalin Gödrös read the 2014 novel for the first time, she was fascinated by the darkness, the powerful imagery and the language. By the "Tschui language", as she calls Tschui's very own written dialect form in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency.
The Swiss filmmaker, who lives in Berlin, was also touched by the parallels between the main character and her own grandmother. She had died shortly before at the age of 102. A pianist who grew up in the most humble of circumstances, which she desperately wanted to escape by marrying a professor. A woman who was torn apart by the desire for financial security and the simultaneous urge to lead an artist's life.
Although it seemed obvious, Katalin Gödrös did not want to tell "Jakob's Steed" as a story of emancipation. She preferred to extract the relationship between Elsie and Jakob from the original novel. Urs Bühler wrote the screenplay.
Art versus business
The film therefore focuses on how the couple deal with their forced marriage, on their unfulfilled dreams and which of the two is more important or "more systemically relevant", as Gödrös says. Art versus business is another topical debate that the director was keen to address.
Picking an aspect of the original story and spinning her own tale out of it - that's what Katalin Gödrös means by a worthwhile literary adaptation. In addition to making films, she works as a professor at the International Film School Cologne. "We didn't just want to illustrate the book, we wanted to create something new," she says, "as if an organism of its own were growing out of the original book."
In addition, a lot of love has been put into the plus point that the book naturally lacks: the music. Wedler's singing and her organ playing contribute a lot to the mystical atmosphere, to the magic of the movie. Yes, Elsie plays the hand organ, not the violin as in the book. "There's a pragmatic reason for that," reveals the filmmaker. "It would have been impossible to have Luna Wedler play the violin in such a way that you could believe her virtuosity." The choice of instrument is also another reference to Gödrös' grandmother. "She also played the accordion."
Changing an instrument is one thing. "Jakobs Ross", the film, also differs from the original in other respects. Katalin Gödrös considers the filming of books to be a "delicate matter". That's why she sought an exchange with the story's creator.
Political concern
This was followed by a positive confrontation with different views. One example: the director wanted to change the dark-haired Yenish in the book to a blonde with blue eyes. A political concern, because this change was intended to make it clear that Yenish people are also "people from Switzerland, from our midst", says Gödrös. And not, as many people in this country think, Roma or Sinti with predominantly dark eyes and dark hair. Incidentally, the character Rico, a boy from the neighboring village, is inspired by the well-known Schwyzerörgel player and Yenish Joseph "Sepp" Mülhauser.
"Jakobs Ross" opens in cinemas in German-speaking Switzerland on January 18. At the same time, the film will be shown at the 59th Solothurn Film Festival (January 17-24), where it has been nominated for the "Prix Public". And rightly so. Gödrös takes the audience on a fascinating, challenging journey - and also expects a lot from the characters. Her interpretation of "Jacob's Steed" stirs and touches. It inspires hope and gives us the strength to change the world.*
*This text by Miriam Margani, Keystone-SDA, was realized with the help of the Gottlieb and Hans Vogt Foundation
©Keystone/SDA
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