Switzerland

Synopsis

This is the story of Dario, who threads his taxi through the streets; of Jorge, who unloads trucks; of Edwin, who works in the police; and of Luis Carlo, who tends the wounded and sends the dead off to the morgue. A former evangelist becomes a hit man. From him we learn what a bullet is worth, a grenade, a man's life ... One of them speaks of feeling "the heat of blood," of finding comfort in his mother's prayers when faced with the lifeless bodies of his father and brother – the two of them murder victims ... Another comes out from mass to explain why "it's no sin to shoot down a man in the ear." These accounts of their lives are at once exuberant and tragic; as amusing as they are sad, they touch upon the fine line between the beauty of life and the horror of it, between good and evil. "Reality is that we live and die," the two musicians sing out. Strumming their guitars to accompany the film, they exhort us to "Take advantage of every moment, for when all is said and done, life is but a dream."
 | 

Cast & Crew

Directed by: François Bovy

Written by: François Bovy

Produced by: Nadejda Magnenat

Cinematography: François Bovy

Nominations and Awards

  • European Documentary 2005