Höhenfeuer (1985)
Genre: Drama / Romance
Duration: 119 minuten
Alternative title: Alpine Fire
Country:
Switzerland
Directed by: Fredi M. Murer
Stars: Thomas Nock, Johanna Lier and Dorothea Moritz
IMDb score:
7,0 (1.158)
Releasedate: 2 September 1985
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Höhenfeuer plot
"a story of love without bonds."
The deaf Bub and his sister Belli live with their parents on a remote mountain farm. Their father refuses to adapt to modern times. "I'd rather kill them than put them in a house." After school, Belli is not only a servant in her own house, but also a teacher for her brother. They have been an inseparable couple since their early childhood. They love eachother. "Holy Mother, what kind of children do I have?" their mother wails when the two do things that are not 'normal'.
Reviews & comments
Collins
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- 7346 messages
- 4345 votes
Father, mother, daughter Belli, and deaf son Bub live with their pigs and cows on a remote mountain. Contact with the valley's inhabitants is minimal. Modern times seem to have had no effect on the family. In the isolation of the mountain and the constant presence of their parents, the teenage children cannot freely develop their hormonal needs. A normal puberty and interaction with peers are out of the question. The brother and sister must discover everything for themselves.
"Höhenfeuer" is a film that conveys a great deal with minimal effort. Specifically, a sense of sadness. In the pure and innocent surroundings of the Alpine peak, a taboo-ridden theme emerges, unleashing itself like a "Höhenfeuer" (High Fire). The film distinguishes itself not only by its unique subject matter but also by its other poignant ingredients. Ingredients that allow you to unleash your interpretations. Ingredients to contemplate.
The four main actors are good. They're credible. The camera is close-up. The camera is wider. The characters are real. Their authenticity is underscored by the unintelligible dialect they speak. And by the silence. At times, it's as if the camera is recording the unadulterated life of a family living in isolation on an alpine pasture. At work. At breakfast. Waking up. Going to sleep. And all of this at a very leisurely pace. It's sometimes like watching a documentary.
Actually, very little happens. Yet the film isn't boring. I found it incredibly intriguing to spend time with characters going about their daily business, speaking little, and mostly expressing their emotions through their posture and behavior. Watching it even evoked a certain tension in me. I appreciated that the delicate subject matter wasn't treated in a moralizing or tacky way.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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