Max Frisch, Journal I-III
Director Richard Dindo
Countries Switzerland
Duration 120 min
Synopsis
A "filmic re-reading" of Max Frisch’s novella "Montauk" (1974) and of excerpts from his published diaries. It is neither a biographical portrait of Frisch – who was one of the greatest 20th century Swiss writers – nor a filmed adaptation of the novel. Instead, Dindo returns to the locations the author describes in his texts, searching for traces of past events that may turn out to have been more imagined than real. "Whether painted, photographed, spoken or written, it’s the traces left by dead people which are at the heart of each project. Max Frisch is the exception: he was alive when the film was made. He did not appear in it, of course – because this very absence (presented in the images shot today) is an essential condition for Dindo’s films."
A "filmic re-reading" of Max Frisch’s novella "Montauk" (1974) and of excerpts from his published diaries. It is neither a biographical portrait of Frisch – who was one of the greatest 20th century Swiss writers – nor a filmed adaptation of the novel. Instead, Dindo returns to the locations the author describes in his texts, searching for traces of past events that may turn out to have been more imagined than real. "Whether painted, photographed, spoken or written, it’s the traces left by dead people which are at the heart of each project. Max Frisch is the exception: he was alive when the film was made. He did not appear in it, of course – because this very absence (presented in the images shot today) is an essential condition for Dindo’s films."