Beresina, or the Last Days of Switzerland

Beresina, or the Last Days of Switzerland (German: Beresina oder Die letzten Tage der Schweiz) is a 1999 satiric comedy film by Swiss director Daniel Schmid. It chronicles the story of Irina, a Russian call girl arriving in Switzerland, whose innocent attempt to live the high life there triggers an unintended coup d'état in the country. The title Beresina refers to the Beresinalied, a patriotic song used as the code for initiating the putsch.[1]

Beresina, or the Last Days of Switzerland
Promotional poster
Directed byDaniel Schmid
Produced byMarcel Hoehn
Written byMartin Suter
Starring
Music byCarl Hänggi
CinematographyRenato Berta
Edited byDaniela Roderer
Release date
  • 7 August 1999 (1999-08-07) (Switzerland)
  • 3 August 2000 (2000-08-03) (Germany)
Running time
108 minutes[1]
Country
  • Switzerland
  • Germany
  • Austria
Language
  • German
  • (Swiss German)

The film is a black comedy where all aspects of Swiss life are satirized in anecdotes. The heroine deals with a retired P-26 officer who appears as her false "sponsor" and various sexual perverts at the top of Swiss social hierarchy. Their attitudes to immigrants are also depicted ironically. Even the national identity and modern history of Switzerland are caricaturized in the country's first ever coup d'état sequences. The film culminates with Irina's coronation as Queen of Switzerland.

Beresina was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.[2]

Cast

Reception

The film was praised by Variety, where Schmid "applies his wicked sense of humour", to create a "rollicking socio-political farce that roasts just about everyone in power." The review also explained how Schmid uses "black humour to expose Swiss high society as a hypocritical facade hiding secrets from money-laundering to pimping, with the banks involved in absolutely everything."[3]

References
  2. "Festival de Cannes: Beresina, or the Last Days of Switzerland". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
  3. Young, Deborah. Beresina, or the Last Days of Switzerland. Variety. 7 June 1999. p. 29


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