Brunswick’s forbidden view of the October Revolution
Published: Tuesday, Jul 30th 2024, 10:20
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Swiss actress Rachel Braunschweig describes herself as a television child. Her great love of cinema came later - and not at first sight.
It's a sunny morning in Zurich. Rachel Braunschweig is sitting in a garden café, waiting for her fried egg, relaxedly waving off the lateness of her conversation partner. She wears her light-colored hair loose, held back from her face with a headband so that her green eyes draw full attention.
In response to the opening question as to what her first film memory was, she answers without giving it much thought: "The staircase scene from 'Battleship Potemkin', people fleeing, a man without legs, soldiers shooting, a baby carriage hurtling uncontrollably down a gigantic staircase with a baby in it whose mother has been shot - that was my introduction to the world of the moving image." The theater, film and TV actress was six or seven years old when she saw this brutal clip from Russian director Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 film on television. Naturally with horror - and forbidden.
Secret television prohibited
As in many families in the 1970s, watching television in secret was forbidden in the Braunschweig household. "When my parents went away, they took the cable with them," says the actress. She has her brother to thank for the horror images of the October Revolution, which remained etched in her memory despite this control measure. At some point, he found out how to make the flicker box work by plugging various cables together and secretly watching television.
Her first visit to the cinema was also less than pleasant. She ended up in a "spooky" black and white movie about zeppelins. "My brother and I were there without our parents, our mother probably sent us to the cinema to do some shopping while we were there."
Rachel Braunschweig is therefore not one of those who were inspired to choose a career by their first cinema experience. "My approach was through language and my talents," she says. She realized early on that she liked memorizing and performing and that she enjoyed being in front of an audience.
Circus performances organized
At elementary school, she played theater and in her free time she organized circus performances. She took dance lessons, had a strong dramaturgical mindset and felt a great fascination for setting up projects and implementing them as part of a team. The only connection between Braunschweig's career choice and her first film memories could be interpreted as her preference for deep characters.
Although those around her still tell her that it was clear from the start that Rachel Braunschweig would end up in acting, she herself says: "I can't remember a key moment when I consciously chose this profession." Despite the naturalness with which her career began, it took her many years to become confident in her profession. She says that the typical Swiss reticence and a certain amount of keeping things down rubbed off on her.
"The Divine Order" was a turning point
A turning point was the film "The Divine Order" (2017), which broke records and was broadcast far beyond the country's borders. Rachel Braunschweig was awarded the Swiss Film Prize for her supporting role, invited to international film festivals and received a great deal of acclaim. "I met filmmakers who naturally think big, try things out with relish and take up space," she says. This has strengthened her and she hopes the same for Switzerland, especially as there is no shortage of talent and exciting ideas.
Rachel Braunschweig's green eyes light up when she talks about her profession and how much films inspire and move her. This is despite the fact, or perhaps precisely because, she knows the craft and can name what makes a movie so good. If a movie irritates her, if she can't get into the story or doesn't like it, then she thinks about the reasons with professional interest. "Because I'm a professional, I can describe in a differentiated way what works, what doesn't, what I missed and what was too much for me." This process is very inspiring.
This fall, two films will be released in which Rachel Braunschweig, who also works as a lecturer and voice actress, can be seen. In the German production "In Liebe, Eure Hilde" by Andreas Dresen, she plays the Jewish actress Ella Karma, who was captured while fleeing to Switzerland in the early 1940s and died in a concentration camp. In "Frieda's Case", a historical drama by Oscar-nominated director Maria Brendle ("Ala Kachuu"), she plays the influential wife of a public prosecutor. Both stories are not exactly light fare. Perhaps Rachel Braunschweig is more influenced by her first film experiences than she would have us believe.
*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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