“Bon Schuur Ticino” – when French is the only national language
Published: Thursday, Nov 23rd 2023, 10:50
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Switzerland has decided that only one language will be spoken in the entire country: French. With the comedy "Bon Schuur Ticino", director Peter Luisi and comedian Beat Schlatter venture a thought experiment - and provide great entertainment.
For Zurich federal policeman Walter Egli (Beat Schlatter), his world collapses when Switzerland adopts the "No Bilingue" initiative. Especially when the decision on the question of which of the four national languages should be spoken throughout Switzerland in future is clearly and unequivocally in favor of French. His French vocabulary barely goes beyond "le frigo" and "le gürk" - and even a language course doesn't help. In short: Egli's job is at stake from one day to the next.
Small against big
The introduction to the socio-political comedy "Bon Schuur Ticino" is not just successful comedy. It is a calculated move by actor Beat Schlatter and director Peter Luisi, two professionals in the field. The two, who previously worked together on "Flitzer" (2017), developed the script together. And they relied on a tried-and-tested recipe: "You always have to put the main characters in the worst possible situations," says Beat Schlatter in an interview with Keystone-SDA. "That's a rule that works in this genre." It is just as effective when "the little ones give the big ones a hard time". In other words: If the vote had gone in favor of the already weighty German-speaking part of Switzerland, this would never have worked as a comedy.
Back to the action: while the German-speaking Swiss largely accept the result of the vote, Ticino is rebelling against the decision. Activist groups from Switzerland's sunniest region are planning to blow up the Gotthard tunnel and declare independence from the rest of Switzerland. And that's where Walter Egli comes in again. According to his superior (Pascal Ulli), if he succeeds in putting a stop to the resistance group, he can keep his job. He is partnered with Jonas Bornand (Vincent Kucholl), a colleague from French-speaking Switzerland, for the undercover mission.
Even before the two are on the train heading south, the movie has delivered countless laugh-out-loud moments. For example, when a parking offender calmly drives away from a policeman because he takes too long to formulate the reason for the fine in French. Or when Walter Egli's rebellious mother Rosmarie (Silvia Jost) gathers her hippie friends together to defend themselves against the "No Bilingue" initiator Jeannot Bachmann (also played by Beat Schlatter).
Rehearsals "like in the theater"
According to Schlatter, "every sentence and every word was discussed" and "rehearsed as if in a theater" before filming, which is clearly noticeable. The jokes are well placed and they work. And even when the French and German-speaking Swiss poke fun at each other, the jokes never cross the line into irreverence. "The film is of course a declaration of love for the other national languages," says Beat Schlatter, explaining the basic tone of the film. Besides, you can do anything as long as you respect each other. In concrete terms, this means that the film does not dwell on the so-called "Röstigraben", but deliberately refrains from having Swiss-German speakers rail against French in the film. After all, it goes without saying that they have to struggle with the new language rules.
Once he arrives in Ticino, Walter Egli is not much better off than at home. Because he doesn't speak Italian either. Nonetheless, he puts up a good fight and once again provides some fun with his use of slips of the tongue such as "amizi" instead of "amici". And when he falls in love with the Ticino insurgent Francesca Gamboni (Catherine Pagani), his situation becomes even more complicated - also in line with the law of humor.
Self-deprecating look
Beat Schlatter is certain that "Bon Schuur Ticino" is funny. After all, the film, which deliberately only mentions Romansh in one sentence for the sake of the tight story, fulfills the most important rules of comedy. "Whether it will be successful is another question, of course," says the comedian. The script was not explicitly tested for a possible different understanding of humor in different parts of the country. "And I don't know the nuances myself, I don't speak French or Italian in real life either."
Because the film builds on the sympathies between the language regions, it helps the audience to look at the different cultural sensitivities in our country with self-irony. And to feel a sense of unity, as at the end of the film, when French-speaking Switzerland, German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino join forces to save Switzerland from civil war.*
*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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