Beresina oder die letzten Tage der Schweiz

When Beresina was released in Swiss cinemas, the film veteran Daniel Schmid was surprised to note that his film was not only reviewed on the arts pages, but also on the front pages. Beresina’s story turned out to be a less far-fetched black comedy than it appeared at first: in Switzerland a complete secret army was disbanded, with tentacles extending into highest levels of government, more or less as happened in Schmid’s film. The elegant and satirical Beresina tells the story of the stunningly attractive Russian Irina (Elena Popova) who ends up as a high-class call-girl in Switzerland and becomes fascinated by the ‘fairy-tale land in the Alps’. Through a customer, a lawyer who promises her to get the Swiss nationality, she acquires an exclusive clientèle from the world of politics, industry, army and media. In the meantime, Irina’s family in Russia expectantly follows her progress up the social ladder, ready to set off for the promised land. When Irina is convinced that she can indeed become Swiss, she agrees to become an informer. From that moment on she becomes involved in obscure and clashing interests that set a whirlwind of events in motion. Daniel Schmid regards his film as a declaration of love for the country that shaped him. And: ‘We always assumed that fact was stranger than fiction.’