Film Review of Swiss filmmakers

[Richard Romeo]

FILM REVIEW

THE JOURNEY TO KAFIRISTAN (DIE REISE NACH KAFIRISTAN)
DEREK ELLEY


08/27/2001
Variety


36
Copyright 2001 Variety, Inc.

from the dudes who made the pynchon bio/doc. this flick sounds interesting
rich

(GERMANY-SWITZERLAND-NETHERLANDS)
A Dubini Filmproduktion, Arte-ZDF (Germany)/Tre Valli Filmproduktion 
(Switzerland)/Artcam (Netherlands) production. (International sales: Media 
Luna, Cologne.) Produced by Fosco Dubini, Donatello Dubini. Co-producers, 
Cardo Dubini, Gerard Huisman.


Directed by Fosco Dubini, Donatello Dubini. Screenplay, Donatello Dubini, 
Fosco Dubini, Barbara Marx. Camera (color), Matthias Kaelin; editor, 
Christel Maye; music, Wolfgang Hamm, Madredeus, Jan Garbarek; art director, 
Gudrun Roscher; costume designer, Barbara Schimmel; sound (Dolby SR), Tom 
Weber. Reviewed at Locarno Film Festival (Piazza Grande), Aug. 8, 2001. 
Running time: 101 MIN.
With: Jeanette Hain, Nina Petri, Matthew Burton, Hassan Darweesh, Ozlen 
Soydan, Abbul Karim Qawasmi.

Given an absorbing fascination thanks to its remote settings and a 
performance of hypnotic intensity by young German thesp Jeanette Hain, "The 
Journey to Kafiristan" reps an intellectual seam in Euro filmmaking at its 
best. Visually gorgeous, partly stylized pic about two women who set off 
into the wilds of Central Asia in the late '30s is a tough theatrical sell 
beyond fests but is a classy sophomore feature by former documakers Fosco 
and Donatello Dubini, Swiss-born but German-based brothers.

Shot by Matthias Kaelin in precise, often breathtaking images that capture 
every mood of the deserts and historic sites of the region, script tells the 
true story of Zurich writer Annemarie Schwarzenbach (Hain) and Geneva 
ethnologist Ella Maillart (Nina Petri), who drove from Switzerland to a 
remote valley in Afghanistan in 1939. For the hard-nosed Ella, the trip is a 
purely scientific expedition; for Annemarie, just out of a clinic for drug 
addiction, it's an odyssey of self-exploration, testing her emotional and 
sexual limits.

Pic is divided into captioned sections as the women trundle along deserted 
roads in their small black car, through the Simplon Pass, crossing the Black 
Sea and driving through what was then Persia. Film oozes a quiet, detailed 
sense of its era: from Annemarie's mannish clothes and the two "modern" 
women's sense of adventure to the background of Nazism that was devouring 
Europe back home. Impeccable physical look recalls a past era of travel and 
exploration done in style, from a portable gramophone and precision 
equipment to clothing that puts today's nylon and spandex to shame.

After a vague lesbian approach to Ella en route that's politely rebuffed, 
Annemarie falls hopelessly for a dignitary's daughter (Ozlen Soydan) in 
Tehran, deliberately pushing the envelope of social constraints of the time. 
As Annemarie becomes more and more distracted, a surprise awaits her and 
Ella as they approach their destination.

The heavily intellectual musings by Annemarie would normally have consigned 
pic to the trash heap of hardcore Euro art movies, but Hain's totally 
convinced perf as the confused writer and the experienced Petri's iron-calm 
playing of Ella make fine screen chemistry against the stunning settings. 
Pic was actually shot in Jordan (Wadi Rum) and Uzbekistan, with studio work 
in Hamburg, but retains the illusion of being set in inaccessible locations. 
Varied, ethnically flavored score strongly complements the visuals.







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