Alain Tanner

Directing

Alain Tanner

Born December 6, 1929 · Genève, Suisse

Died September 11, 2022 · aged 92

Alain Tanner (6 December 1929 – 11 September 2022) was a Swiss film director. Influenced by his involvement with the British "Free Cinema" movement in London and with the French New Wave during his years in Paris, Tanner is best known for his movies Jonas qui aura 25 ans en l'an 2000 (Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000), Dans la ville blanche (In the White City) and Messidor. Dans la ville bla…

Known For

FourbiFourbi · 1996
Fourbi
5.51996
MovieDramaComedy
Writer Paul attempts to interview Rosemonde, a young woman who killed an alleged rapist in self-defense six years prior, for a true crime television program. When Rosemonde refuses to divulge details of the events, Paul encourages his actress girlfriend to befriend her, but the three are repeatedly sidetracked from their initial commission.
Paul s'en vaPaul s'en va · 2004
Paul s'en va
6.42004
MovieComedyDrama
A group of 17 theater actors wonder about what happened to their teacher when he doesn't show up for a class.
Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 · 1976
Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000
6.81976
MovieDrama
A look at the lives of several men and women in their 30s as they confront the slim gains of the "revolutionary" sixties. Max, a dissatisfied copy editor; Myriam, a redhead into tantric sex; and Marie, a supermarket checker who gives unauthorized discounts to the elderly, search for renewed meaning on a communal farm. The title character, a six-year-old child, is the carrier of their hopes for the future.
Flowers of BloodFlowers of Blood · 2002
Flowers of Blood
6.32002
MovieDrama
In custody after she murders her middle aged photographer lover, a fourteen year old Pam reflects back on the bohemian life she spent with her mother Lily, a free spirited cabaret performer. Lily tried to elevate her stripper performances from the level of erotic spectacle to artistic expression as she dragged her young daughter from nightclub to nightclub and hotel to hotel, but ultimately lost her at nine to the Paris child authorities.
In the White CityIn the White City · 1983
In the White City
7.01983
MovieDramaRomance
Fed up with the sea, Paul, a Swiss mechanic working in the noisy bowels of a merchant ship, lands in Lisbon.
MessidorMessidor · 1979
Messidor
6.51979
MovieAdventureDrama
Two young women from very different backgrounds journey into the countryside seeking respite from unsatisfactory lives and relationships, but ultimately find that there is no way back to the world they once knew.
A City at ChandigarhA City at Chandigarh · 1966
A City at Chandigarh
6.31966
MovieDocumentary
Documentary on the construction of Chandigarh, the new capital of the Indian Punjab region, planned by Albert Mayer and Swiss architect Le Corbusier.
No Man's LandNo Man's Land · 1985
No Man's Land
5.51985
MovieDrama
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.

Filmography

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Men of the PortMen of the Port · 1995
Men of the Port
7.01995
MovieDocumentary
After 40 years Alain Tanner again travels to the port of Genoa, where he worked for a shipping company as a 22-year-old. On the back of his own memories he depicts the rough world of the dockworkers, another of those trades that has undergone fundamental changes as a result of recessions, modernisation and liberalisation. “The visual impression of the harbour and the city has changed very little, but what goes on there nowadays is completely different. The city is still as beautiful and alien and somewhat sad as before. But the port is dying, like so many other major ports. In Genoa, as elsewhere in Italy, the economic, social and political climate is highly explosive. But you also feel that things are in flow and the country is on the verge of some far-reaching changes. (...) In this film I wanted to explore my own memories of Genoa, uncover its present and guess at its future. Genoa, this beautiful, this sad, this alien town has become for me a metaphor for society in change.”

Director

The Diary of Lady MThe Diary of Lady M · 1993
The Diary of Lady M
4.71993
MovieDrama
She's a beautiful gifted performer, but her work is not the sort that invites popular acclaim. Despite the fact that she is unlikely to become famous, she enjoys her life as a performer who lives just outside the mainstream. Awaiting her backstage one evening is a Spanish painter who has seen her show and wants to make her acquaintance. They walk around Paris getting to know one another, and then the painter returns to Spain. Something about the man has moved Lady M to passion: she flies to meet him in Barcelona and he shows her his beloved Catalonia. This time, however, their relationship is as much about passionate lovemaking as it is about compatibility. So smitten is Lady M with her new man that when she discovers that the painter has a black wife and child, she is only a little bit taken aback and she invites his whole family to join her in Paris. Surprisingly, they do, and the number of people sharing their love and sexual appetites changes from two to three.

Director