Director Xavier Koller looks to the future at the age of 80
Published: Thursday, Jun 13th 2024, 10:50
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Xavier Koller is the first Swiss director to win an Oscar. Films such as "Journey of Hope" and "The Black Tanner" have long since become classics. The master director from Schwyz is now 80 years old. He is still driven by curiosity
"I always looked and still look ahead," said Xavier Koller in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency. Also in view of his eightieth birthday on June 17. The unknown interests him much more than what is already known. Of course, he is also grateful for his fulfilled curiosity and all the experiences he has had. But just that: The future interests the director more than previous milestones.
Xavier Koller was born in Schwyz in 1944, then lived in Ibach and Brunnen and later in Mellingen in the canton of Aargau. He completed an apprenticeship as a precision mechanic while also working in a movie theater. "I was in love with the cinema owner's daughter, so I became an usher and was later allowed to project films," said Koller with a laugh, "So I also had the film reels in my hand, breathed in the smell of film and was able to watch so many works." Koller was driven by the desire to play, he wanted to become a clown. But things turned out a little differently. After his apprenticeship, he trained as an actor at the Zurich Drama School.
Better behind than in front of the camera
Koller's first roles were in the theater in Switzerland and Germany. And even during his training, he worked as an actor in advertising. This was followed by feature films. "The cameraman Kurt Aeschbacher asked me if I would make a movie with him," said the director, who was still an actor at the end of the 1960s. There was no script, so Koller and Aeschbacher set about writing it. The result was Koller's first film as a director. "Fanö Hill" has a running time of just over 50 minutes and was made in 1969. It was shown at the Solothurn Film Festival, where it won two awards.
"I realized that I actually prefer to be behind the camera rather than in front of it," said Koller. Koller's second film as director followed in 1972 with "Hannibal". He always relied on his intuition: "Of course I fell flat on my face, but I got up again." After all, you can't win anything if you don't risk anything. And indeed: the following year, he won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for his film "Journey of Hope" (1990). Koller was the first Swiss director to receive this honor.
Outsiders at the center
"The fact that the film won an Oscar - that was very surprising". The film tells the story of an Alevi family fleeing from Turkey to Switzerland. According to Koller, the topic of flight was not popular: not in political discourse and not in the medium of film. Koller wanted to change that. "Journey of Hope" tells the story of a father, his wife and their son who try to flee to Switzerland over the snow-covered Splügen Pass. The 7-year-old son dies.
"When I read the story, I was very affected by the risks people took to create a better future for themselves. That's why I had to make the movie," says Koller. It's actually bad that the film is still relevant - because the problems of migration have increased enormously since then.
"Journey of Hope" is about people who are on the margins of society. It is the theme that the director from Schwyz takes up in his films: "People who are not against society, but who live on its margins," he specified. "The Black Tanner" from 1986 is about a Swiss farmer during the Second World War who defies state regulations and ends up in prison. "The Frozen Heart" from 1980 is about a tramp who wants to give his friend a decent burial and drinks up the greedy inhabitants of a village.
Inclined towards people
"I find lives that are characterized by obstacles and how they are overcome exciting," said Koller. His dramas also have many comedic aspects because life is full of comedy. However, the director never makes fun of his characters; he doesn't laugh at them, but with them. Human comedy arises from affection, which also applies to the antagonist.
Today, Koller lives in the American film metropolis of Los Angeles, in Zurich and in Italy. "A little bit everywhere", as he said in conversation. He continues to receive positive reactions to his films, even the older ones. "Apparently the quality has held up," says the director.
Koller's last film to date was released in 2015. "Schellen-Ursli" is the fifth most successful Swiss film from 1976 to 2023. 456,989 people saw the film in cinemas. The feature film also won the Zurich Film Award and a Swiss Film Award for Best Cinematography. Koller's oeuvre includes "Gripsholm" (2000), "Eine wen iig, dr Dällebach Kari" (2011) and "Die schwarzen Brüder" (2013). He has also made commercials and screenplays since 2015.
Koller is currently working on another project. When asked whether he will now, at the age of 80 - like his colleague Francis Ford Coppola recently did with "Megalopolis" - present a large-scale balance sheet, Koller is mischievous: "Actually, I would like to make a small film, but somehow that doesn't work out." The big stories appeal to him, but he is driven by curiosity and - of course - looking ahead.
©Keystone/SDA
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