No Mans Land (1985 film)
6.4 /10 1 Votes
Director Alain Tanner Writer Alain Tanner Production Film4 Productions Country Switzerland
France
Germany
United Kingdom | 6.2/10 IMDb Genre Drama Music director Terry Riley Cinematography Bernard Zitzermann Duration Language French | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cast Hugues Quester (Paul), Myriam Mézières (Madeline), Jean-Philippe Ecoffey (Jean), Betty Berr (Mali)Release date August 28, 1985 (1985-08-28) Similar movies Related Alain Tanner movies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No Mans Land is a 1985 film directed by Alain Tanner, about 5 aimless rural people engaging in smuggling on the French-Swiss border.
Contents
Via the New York Times: "Madeleine, who runs a disco on the French-Swiss border, dreams of going to Paris to pursue a singing career. Her lover, Paul, who makes his living smuggling money, gold and goods across the border, plans to emigrate to Canada. Mali, a pretty young Algerian woman who lives in France and works in Switzerland, would like to be anywhere except where she is. Louis, born on a Swiss farm and trained as a clockmaker, would give anything to leave his mistress, Lucie, and move in with Mali."
Plot
Jean (Jean-Philippe Ecoffey), a young Swiss whose watchmaking skills no longer proves useful in the real world, dawdles his time away either in his parents farm or in Lucies restaurant-bar. He sleeps with Lucie (Marie-Luce Felber) but doesnt love her, as he becomes smitten with an insecure Algerian woman (Betty Berr) who travels between France and Switzerland daily for work. Meanwhile, Paul (Hugues Quester), a mechanic in his fathers automobile shop with dreams of immigrating to Canada, periodically smuggles items across the border to make money, and gets Jean to help him out on occasions. Gradually, the police begin to frequent the nightclub run by Pauls lover Madeleine (Myriam Mezieres) to inquire about his whereabouts. Paul gets an offer to smuggle a large amount of gold, and knowing the police are hot on his trail, decides to take the risk "for the last time" along with a hesitant Jean.
Review
Vincent Caby of the New York Times wrote that the film is "completely humorless and cold, memorable only for their picturesque landscapes and cloud formations."
Awards and nominations
The film was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 1985 42nd Venice International Film Festival.
References
No Mans Land (1985 film) WikipediaNo Mans Land (1985 film) IMDb No Mans Land (1985 film) themoviedb.org