Jenatsch is a 1987 French-Swiss drama film directed by Daniel Schmid and written by Schmid and Martin Suter. It follows a journalist whose investigation into the historical figure Jürg Jenatsch leads him into a disorienting overlap of past and present. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival and later screened at festivals including La Rochelle, Neuchâtel, Buenos Aires, and Ankara.
Sprecher, a journalist living with his girlfriend Nina, interviews an elderly anthropologist who once supervised the excavation of JenatschâÂÂs grave. After taking a small brass bell, he discovers that it can take him back in time. As SprecherâÂÂs life becomes increasingly taken over by Jenatsch, his relationship with Nina falls apart and he is drawn into a violent confrontation.
The cast includes:
The film was not a direct adaptation of Conrad Ferdinand MeyerâÂÂs novel Jürg Jenatsch. Martin Suter instead wrote a new story loosely based on the novel and the historical events.
Filmdienst described the film as an elegantly staged and photographed dream play, but found that it ultimately drifted into something too non-committal.
The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. Later festival screenings included the 1994 La Rochelle International Film Festival, the 2003 Troia International Film Festival, the 2010 Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival, the 2011 Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema, and the 2013 Ankara International Film Festival.