“The Sparrow in the Chimney” in the running for the Golden Leopard in Locarno
Published: Wednesday, Aug 14th 2024, 12:10
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"The Sparrow in the Chimney" is the Swiss film in competition for the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival. The Zurich brothers are responsible for the film. They talk to the Keystone-SDA news agency about contrasts and fluid boundaries in film.
"The Sparrow in the Chimney" is a film rich in contrasts, set in an idyllic house in the rural canton of Bern. The subject is the process of a mother's liberation and a family in which the family blessing hangs askew. The film tells the story against the backdrop of a family celebration at which two sisters who could not be more different meet. Memories of their deceased mother strengthen the urge of one sister, Jule (Britta Hammelstein), to rebel against the other, Karen (Maren Eggert).
Karen is bossy and is hated by her three children. In the course of the story, she frees herself. The image at the beginning of the film, of a sparrow locked in the chimney of the house, which is then freed and takes flight, virtually anticipates Karen's personal liberation, said director Ramon Zürcher.
"The Sparrow in the Fireplace" is the third part of the so-called "animal trilogy" by the two brothers Ramon and Silvan Zürcher, following "The Strange Kitten" (2013) and "The Girl and the Spider" (2021). Ramon is the director, Silvan the producer. The twin brothers have been working together in their joint production company Zürcher Film since 2017.
Animal trilogy with people at the center
"The concept of the trilogy was not fixed from the beginning, first I wrote and directed 'The Strange Kitten', and when that was finished, Silvan started writing the script for 'The Girl and the Spider', and I started on 'The Sparrow in the Chimney'," Ramon continued.
It was only during the writing process that the brothers realized that the three films had something in common. Hence the decision to make a trilogy. "There are important formal aspects such as statics and movement," explains Roman. This contrast between movement and stasis is "already present in the plan, but also in the development of the trilogy".
"We call it an 'animal trilogy', but at the heart of the three films are people, relationships, especially the family," adds producer Silvan. The brothers focus primarily on the shadowy areas of these relationships. "The animals have no symbolic meaning for us, but they open up a field of association with the themes of the film," he explains.
The film is like a journey that begins with the static and leads to the dynamic, not only formally through the camera, but also through the script and the psychology of the characters," said Silvan.
The director explained that Karen's process of liberation, which not only takes place psychologically, but is also reflected in the story in a figurative sense, with the journey from Karen's parents' house to the farm in the forest, stands for this in particular.
Static and movement are not the only contrasts in the film: "The construction of the entire film is based on the idea of contrasts," Ramon continues. For example, the music changes from light to techno beats or shadows in the house contrast with the brightness outside.
Between dream and reality
"I wanted to tell the story of a transformation," says Ramon, who is also responsible for the screenplay as well as directing. Towards the end of the film, the boundaries between dream and reality become so blurred that it becomes difficult to tell what corresponds to reality in the story and what does not. "I like the fact that reality becomes fluid," said Ramon.
The idyllic house, which is also a depressing place for painful memories that gradually emerge, stands for this. The sisters' father committed suicide there, Jule remembers her mother with hatred - a hatred that her sister Karen experiences from her own children. "The room becomes an inner space that reflects Karen's psychology," explained Ramon.
Something fluid is also evident in the brothers' approach to different genres: "The great thing is that when we show the dream, we can use something abstract from horror, thriller and psychedelic gimmicks - an aesthetic that comes close to the nightmare," said Ramon.
The Zurich brothers work closely together on their films and do not assign fixed roles to each other. "It was always different with the three films," said Ramon. Artistic decisions are made together, "regardless of the roles we have". Silvan is "the first person to read the script and give me feedback", Ramon explained.
"The Sparrow in the Chimney" is the first time the two have competed in a festival. It is "exciting and a great pleasure, and of course we are also nervous", Ramon admitted. The film is one of 17 competing for the Golden Leopard in the international competition of the 77th Locarno Film Festival. It is the only Swiss film in this section. Switzerland has also co-produced "Fogo do vento" by Portuguese director Marta Mateus and "Transamazonia" by Pia Marais.
The general public can see "The Sparrow in the Chimney" from September 19. That's when the film opens in cinemas in German-speaking Switzerland.
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