Claude Goretta

Claude Goretta directed “L'invitation” in 1973. For filmmaker Lionel Baier, born in 1975, it is like a “travelling companion”, to adapt Serge Daney’s expression. He feels it is definitive proof that a Swiss can be deeply Chekhovian. The young filmmaker goes to Geneva to ask his elder how he achieved the whoosh of water effect in the film, why attention to detail matters so much, and how to film great actors such as François Simon. This encounter with Claude Goretta – but also with Isabelle Huppert, Nathalie Baye, Michel Robin and Frédérique Meininger – leads one of the greatest of Swiss filmmakers to open up about his work.

Rémi, a confirmed bachelor and model bureaucrat, invites his colleagues and superiors to a magnificent house to celebrate an inheritance. Under the influence of drink, they drop all pretence and reveal their true selves. But what will remain of this brief interlude the following day?

Rémi, a confirmed bachelor and model bureaucrat, invites his colleagues and superiors to a magnificent house to celebrate an inheritance. Under the influence of drink, they drop all pretence and reveal their true selves. But what will remain of this brief interlude the following day?

George is a middle-aged man who lives with his disabled wife. He faces dire financial straits after an investment firm wipes out his life savings and forces him into early retirement. Consequently, he becomes increasingly disillusioned and desperate, which ultimately drives him to the brink of insanity.

George is a middle-aged man who lives with his disabled wife. He faces dire financial straits after an investment firm wipes out his life savings and forces him into early retirement. Consequently, he becomes increasingly disillusioned and desperate, which ultimately drives him to the brink of insanity.

Pomme is a meek and mild French beautician whose life takes a fateful turn during a vacation to Normandy. She becomes the lover of middle-class literature-student François. The relationship sours when François takes her home to meet his parents, thanks in no small part to their differing social backgrounds.

Pomme is a meek and mild French beautician whose life takes a fateful turn during a vacation to Normandy. She becomes the lover of middle-class literature-student François. The relationship sours when François takes her home to meet his parents, thanks in no small part to their differing social backgrounds.

A montage of the night-life of Piccadilly Circus across the hours, from early evening to the last lingering passers-by.

A montage of the night-life of Piccadilly Circus across the hours, from early evening to the last lingering passers-by.

A self-potrait of the influent Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget.

The story of Georges Mandel, an anti-Nazi French parliamentarian who refused to abdicate to the Vichy regime.

Claude Goretta brings to life the age-old tale of Orpheus and Eurydice in a fresh adaptation of Monteverdi’s Orfeo. Monteverdi’s fabled opera Orfeo was long described as the first opera to have been written. Although modern scholarship has proven this to be untrue, the work remains one of the pillars of western music history, a musical creation which laid the foundations for much of what was to come. As musicologist Jack Westrup explains, Orfeo marked a major milestone not because it broke new ground, but because imagination had taken precedence over theory. While Monteverdi may not have been a revolutionary, his music represents the culmination of centuries of musical evolution, and shows him as the clear master of both polyphony and monody.

A TV reporter and his assisstant go to a small Swiss village to do a programme with a reclusive scientist, an expert on world food shortages. During this time, an Italian immigrant worker is killed in a road crash and the reporter becomes involved in uncovering the truth about his death.

A TV reporter and his assisstant go to a small Swiss village to do a programme with a reclusive scientist, an expert on world food shortages. During this time, an Italian immigrant worker is killed in a road crash and the reporter becomes involved in uncovering the truth about his death.

When Christine, young and out of work, arrives in Paris without money, a job or support, vulnerable and ignorant of the rules of the game, she seems to be an easy victim. But she is determined not to let herself be destroyed.

When Christine, young and out of work, arrives in Paris without money, a job or support, vulnerable and ignorant of the rules of the game, she seems to be an easy victim. But she is determined not to let herself be destroyed.

The adventures of Guillaume, a Swiss citizen, honest and cultured, a good husband and father, whose uneventful life suddenly gets out of hand.

French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau (François Simon) lives in 18th-century exile with his mistress (Dominique Labourier).

Jean-Luc, mountain farmer, married Christine. She accepted this marriage because the man she loved, Augustin, left. Jean-Luc knows this but he hopes that the birth of a child will allow them to live together possible. Unfortunately, daily life between work in the fields and Sunday mass destroys their understanding. After Augustin's return, Christine becomes his mistress and Jean-Luc discovers it. He chases Christine away and remains alone with their child but the latter drowns shortly after in a pond. Refusing to believe in the death of his son, Jean-Luc descends into madness. When a few years later, he sees Christine again with Augustin's child, out of jealousy, he kills the mother and the child, before killing himself.

A young man from the city goes on a picnic to the country with his family. They come upon a wedding party, and the young man falls in love with the bride. The girl is getting married for a number of reasons, but not for love.

Biographical film about French writer Jean-Paul Sartre, concentrating on his passionate affairs with women.

Biographical film about French writer Jean-Paul Sartre, concentrating on his passionate affairs with women.

In 1936, the political and marital tribulations of Léon Blum, elected President of the Council at the head of the Popular Front.

A manufacturer of furniture sees his business go down and decides to rob banks to pay his staff. Het gets romantically involved with one of his victims.

A manufacturer of furniture sees his business go down and decides to rob banks to pay his staff. Het gets romantically involved with one of his victims.