Kinder der Landstraße (1994)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Urs Egger

Writers:

Urs Egger (story) and
Johannes Bösiger (story) ...

Release Date:

24 February 1994 (Germany)

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Jasmin Tabatabai	...	Jana Kessel
Andrea Eckert	...	Theresa Kessel
Martina Straessler	...	Jana, 5 Jahre
Herbert Leiser	...	Paul Kessel
Jara Weiss	...	Jana, 9 Jahre
Hans-Peter Korff	...	Dr. Schoenefeld
Nina Petri	...	Fräulein Roth
Mathias Gnädinger	...	Roger Kessel
Noemi Steuer	...	Andrina Kessel
Andreas Schindelholz	...	Django
Andreas Löffel	...	Nino
Paul Schirmer	...	Jenischer Mann
Arnold Barri	...	Jenischer Mann
Felix Amsler	...	Jenischer Mann
Johanna Karl-Lory	...	Wahrsagerin

Also Known As:

Child on the Open Road

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

Germany | Austria | Switzerland

Language:

Swiss German | German

Color:

Color

Certification:

Germany:12 (bw)

Company:

Lichtblick Film- und Fernsehproduktion (I)

The important subject would have deserved a better film.

This film certainly is very important for dealing with Swiss history, and it is important that it shows much about life of those victims of the mid-century European racism whose voices are not so often heard. The film certainly makes an important contribution towards seeing the past in a less distorted way.

But, just because the subject is so important, it is a real pity that the film is artistically so bad. It is just a repetition of the same thing over and over, and at some point it just stops. The recurrence of the same thing is not reflected upon in any way, and much of the challenge the story offers is lost in the tedious flow of the simple narrative. Further, I understand that emotions are very important in films, but when there is just a mother crying for minutes when her child is taken away and no attempt at all to convey emotions in a more complex way, this is a pity. I think this film is typical of films from German-speaking Switzerland: There are very good intentions, but a lack of artistical capabilities and expertise. How much better would it have been if the film wasn't only about a subject everyone in Switzerland should think about, but also had real artistic qualities. Then, it would also have served the aim of preventing people from forgetting the dark sides of the past much better.