Movie Mothers cast their shadows in "The Sparrow in the Chimney"

The family drama "The Sparrow in the Chimney" deals with the liberation of mothers in several ways. The film was the only Swiss entry in the international competition at the Locarno Film Festival and is now being released in cinemas.

"The Sparrow in the Chimney" is a film rich in contrasts, set in an idyllic house in the rural canton of Bern. The theme is the process of liberation and a family in which the family blessing hangs askew. The film tells the story against the backdrop of a family celebration at which two different sisters meet. Memories of their deceased mother strengthen the urge of one sister, Jule (Britta Hammelstein), to rebel against the other, Karen (Maren Eggert). And the bossy Karen is also hated by her three children.

The image of a sparrow locked in the chimney of the house, which is then freed and takes flight, stands at the beginning of the film. It virtually anticipates Karen's personal liberation, director Ramon Zürcher told the Keystone-SDA news agency at the Locarno Film Festival in August.

"The Sparrow in the Chimney" is the third part of the so-called "animal trilogy" by the two brothers Ramon and Silvan Zürcher, following "The Strange Kitten" (2013) and "The Girl and the Spider" (2021). Ramon is the director, Silvan the producer. The twin brothers have been working together in their joint production company Zürcher Film since 2017.

Animal trilogy with people at the center

"The concept of the trilogy wasn't fixed from the beginning, I wrote and directed 'The Strange Kitten' first, and when that was finished, Silvan started writing the screenplay for 'The Girl and the Spider' and I started on 'The Sparrow in the Chimney'," Ramon continued.

It was only during the writing process that the brothers realized that the three films had something in common. Hence the decision to make a trilogy. "There are important formal aspects such as statics and movement," explains Roman. This contrast between movement and stillness is "already present in the plan, but also in the development of the trilogy".

"We call it an 'animal trilogy', but at the center of the three films are people, relationships, especially family," adds producer Silvan. The brothers focus primarily on the shadowy areas of these relationships. "The animals have no symbolic meaning for us, but they open up a field of associations with the themes of the film," he explains.

"The film is like a journey that begins with the static and leads to the dynamic, not only formally through the camera, but also through the script and the psychology of the characters," said Silvan.

This is particularly evident in Karen's process of liberation, which not only takes place psychologically, but is also reflected in the story in a figurative sense, with the journey from Karen's parents' house to the farm in the forest, explained the director.

Static and movement are not the only contrasts in the film: "The construction of the entire film is based on the idea of contrasts," said Ramon. For example, the music changes from light to techno beats or shadows in the house contrast with the brightness outside.

Between dream and reality

"I wanted to tell the story of a transformation," says Ramon, who is responsible for the screenplay as well as directing the film. Towards the end of the film, the boundaries between dream and reality become so blurred that it becomes difficult to tell what corresponds to reality in the story and what does not. "I like the fact that reality becomes fluid," said Ramon.

This is particularly evident in the idyllic house, which is also a depressing place for painful memories that gradually emerge. The sisters' father committed suicide there, Jule remembers her mother with hatred - a hatred that her sister Karen experiences from her own children. "The room becomes an inner space that reflects Karen's psychology," explains Ramon.

Something fluid is also evident in the brothers' approach to different genres: "The great thing is that when we show the dream, we can use something abstract from horror, thriller and psychedelic gimmicks - an aesthetic that comes close to the nightmare," said Ramon.

The Zurich brothers work closely together on their films and do not assign fixed functions to each other. "It was always different with the three films," said Ramon. Artistic decisions are made together, "regardless of the roles we have". Silvan is "the first person to read the script and give me feedback", Ramon explained.

"The Sparrow in the Chimney" was the first time the two had competed at a festival. The film competed for the Golden Leopard in the international competition of the 77th Locarno Film Festival, but came away empty-handed. It opens in cinemas in German-speaking Switzerland on Thursday (today).