Beresina, or the Last Days of Switzerland
Encyclopedia
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 Russia
n call girl
arriving in Switzerland
, whose innocent attempt to live the high life there triggers unintended coup d'etat
in the country. The title Beresina refers to the Beresinalied
, a patriotic song used as the code for initiating the Putsch.
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
.
, where Shmid "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 Smid 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."
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
by Swiss director Daniel Schmid. It chronicles the story of Irina, a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n call girl
Call girl
A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who is not visible to the general public; nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency...
arriving in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, whose innocent attempt to live the high life there triggers unintended coup d'etat
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
in the country. The title Beresina refers to the Beresinalied
Beresinalied
The Beresinalied, originally known as Unser Leben gleicht der Reise is a Lied composed by Friedrich Wilke after the 1792 poem die Nachtreise by Ludwig Giseke....
, a patriotic song used as the code for initiating the Putsch.
The film is a black comedy where all aspects of Swiss life are satirized in anecdotes. The heroine deals with a retired P-26
Projekt-26
Projekt-26, best known as P-26, was a stay-behind army in Switzerland charged with countering a possible invasion of the country. The existence of P-26 as secret intelligence agencies dissimulated in the military intelligence agency was revealed in November 1990 by the PUK EMD Parliamentary...
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
National identity
National identity is the person's identity and sense of belonging to one state or to one nation, a feeling one shares with a group of people, regardless of one's citizenship status....
and modern history of Switzerland
History of Switzerland
Since 1848, the Swiss Confederation has been a federal state of relatively autonomous cantons, some of which have a history of confederacy that goes back more than 700 years, arguably putting them among the world's oldest surviving republics. For the time before 1291, this article summarizes...
are caricaturized in the country's first ever coup d'état sequences. The film culminates with Irina's coronation
Coronation
A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
as Queen of Switzerland.
Beresina was screened in the Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival
1999 Cannes Film Festival
The 52nd Cannes Film Festival was held on May 12-23, 1999. The Palme d'Or went to the French-Belgian film Rosetta by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.-Jury:* David Cronenberg * André Téchiné * Barbara Hendricks...
.
Cast
- Yelena PanovaYelena PanovaYelena Viktorovna Panova also Elena Panova is a Russian actress from Arkhangelsk. A noted stage actress at the Moscow Art Theater, she has been active in film and television since 1997...
- Irina - Geraldine ChaplinGeraldine ChaplinGeraldine Leigh Chaplin is an English-American actress and the daughter of Charlie Chaplin.Chaplin first came to prominence for her Golden Globe-nominated role of Tonya in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago . She received her second Golden Globe nomination for Robert Altman's Nashville...
- Charlotte De - Martin BenrathMartin BenrathMartin Benrath was a German film actor. He appeared in 65 films between 1954 and 2000.-Selected filmography:* Court Martial * From the Life of the Marionettes * Put on Ice...
- Alt-Divisionär Sturzenegger - Ulrich NoethenUlrich NoethenUlrich Noethen is a German actor who has appeared in many movies and TV films.He starred in Comedian Harmonists. He also played Heinrich Himmler twice, in Der Untergang and Mein Führer – Die wirklich wahrste Wahrheit über Adolf Hitler.Noethen has won various awards for his acting, including the...
- Dr. Alfred Waldvogel - Iván DarvasIvan DarvasIván Darvas was a Hungarian actor.-Early life:Born as Szilárd Darvas, his father was János Darvas, and his mother was a Russian woman, Antonina Evdokimova. He spent his childhood in Prague, where his father worked as a journalist...
- Direktor Vetterli - Marina Confalone - Benedetta Hösli
- Stefan Kurt - Claude Bürki
- Hans-Peter Korff - Nationalrat Tschanz
- Joachim Tomaschewsky - Alt Bundesrat von Gunten
- Ulrich BeckUlrich BeckUlrich Beck is a German sociologist who holds a professorship at Munich University and at the London School of Economics.-Life:...
- Ivan DesnyIvan DesnyIvan Nikolai Desnitskij was a Russian actor born in China who worked for most of his life in Germany.-Career:Desny was a film/movie actor. He acted in more than 150 films, most of them German...
- Rudolf Stauffacher - Schuyler Landolt
- Hilde ZieglerHilde Ziegler-Selected filmography:* Assassination in Davos * The Swissmakers * Kassettenliebe * L'amour des femmes * Constable Zumbühl * Beresina, or the Last Days of Switzerland...
- Frau Vetterli
Reception
The film was praised by VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, where Shmid "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 Smid 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."