Alzire or the New Continent

With the help of his assistant Anja, Ottocaro Weiss intends to put the plague on stage: circumstances beyond his control and a lack of fresh talent have forced him to close down his flea circus. For Weiss, the plague means the «extinction of everything that makes life miserable and low and freedom along with it. Unbeknownst to him, he has won the support of a patron who is of the exact opposite opinion: for Johannes Wagner, the plague is an organising principle, and, aided by his agent Moosbrugger, he is able to smuggle a new number onto the programme. Whereas Ottocaro Weiss means to represent the plague theatrically, what appears on stage is the scientific reality of the rat-borne infestation.

Even with good acting, pleasant music, and artistic photography, this "love-boat" story of romance is more like Alice in Wonderland rather than Alice on the streets of Zurich. The Zurich Alice is a flautist who plays for the passersby like many another street or Metro musician. While so engaged, she meets a VIP Russian flautist who has defected and is living in the city. He falls in love with her and as a gesture of his devotion decides to arrange her solo concert debut. Meanwhile, Alice easily figures out what his plans are and devises her own secret scheme. When the day of the performance arrives, her Russian heartthrob is in for a flattering surprise, sure to end his bachelor status. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

It is carnival time in Munich and participants are overindulging in alcohol and sensual pleasures. "Follow us into madness" beckons Lys who is drunk on life, but the sensitive Henry does not follow him. Lys has betrayed his fiancé, as Henry once betrayed his lost love Anna. In memory of Anna and his cruel Dickensian childhood, Henry challenges Lys to a duel to try to appease his guilt.

Even in war, the life of a rich family is different, according to this fictional story about Francois Korb (Armin Müller-Stahl) an arms manufacturer who sold both to the Germans and the Allied forces. Korb's home life is less than ideal, since his wife is having an affair with his brother, and his young son is inseparable from a teddy bear. To remedy the son's situation, the parents take in a little refugee girl as a temporary companion and playmate, and the two children become fast friends -- and when they meet again long after the war, the influence of family is all the more apparent. Meanwhile, the arms dealer will learn the hard way that weapons kill.

Cannes Festival 1991

At the end of the 19th century, an educated white-collar worker finds himself in the employ of an inventor. As he is neither a "worker" nor an "owner," his position in the inventor's household and in the world at large is equivocal. Despite the difficulties he encounters, he tries to hold onto his job in order to support his family, but is eventually fired. This Swiss movie is based on a novel written around 1900 by Robert Walser.