Love is one of the greatest things about our limited existence on this planet. To find genuine connection, build something out of that, and face the challenges of life together is all the majority of us hope for. Those challenges can’t always be beaten by love though. Sometimes they are merely weathered, and sometimes all we have to do is survive them.
A Piece of Sky (also known as Drii Winter in it’s original Swiss German) is a slow paced Swiss film that’s been picked by the nation as its official submission to the Best International Feature Film competition at the 95th Academy Awards. It’s about two lovers dealing with a massive challenge in their relationship. Marco (played by Simon Wisler) is a farmhand living in a remote mountain village in Switzerland. He’s recently gotten married to single mother Anna (played by Michèle Brand). The two are incredibly happy together, but the challenges start early in their relationship when Marco gets a tumour.
He undergoes surgery to remove most of the mass, but is told there’s a strong chance the remaining part of the mass will alter his brain chemistry, changing his personality and possibly lead to his death. Anna and Marco attempt to weather this storm, but their relationship might not survive the challenge.
The film frequently alternates between wide shots of the beautiful, lonely mountains and vast, snow valleys, and close-ups of the characters faces and interactions with others. It’s a lonely, cold atmosphere, only made warm by the connections made and relationships created. Brand and Wisler’s performances are both minimal, with the screenplay offering minimal resolution or clarity. Instead, the answers are found in the faces and performances of both lead actors. This isn’t a loud, expressive film. It’s a quiet one where the power is in the subtleties, the eye movements, the increasing or decreasing volume in their statements.
I spoke with both the film’s director, Michael Koch, and the actress who plays Anna, Michèle Brand. This film was actually Brand’s first performance as a professional film actress, she normally works as an architect in Switzerland. She tells me she was drawn to the film due to the strength of her character. She “struggles with it, but in the end it gives her strength.”
Koch adds that this was a major part of his desire to tell this story, the power of love. Years ago while travelling, he met a woman who lived in a remote mountain village similar to the one the film is set in, and she told him her story. She told him about the challenge her husband had when he received a tumour, and how that changed their love. “The way she stayed calm and faced her fate impressed me a lot, so I thought I would like to tell this story.”
Koch adds that he was especially interested the power of love in such a vast, lonely environment. Nature is constantly on the mind of the characters, so it’s hard for them to fight nature. Anna is the character who closely follows the path of nature, because she knows “in the end nature is stronger, and nature is something you have to accept.” Her performance is the rock which anchors this film, allowing it to be shine through its cold environment.
The film has been selected to represent Switzerland as the next Academy Awards, but still needs to clear the first round and make it to the final 5 films nominated for Best International Feature Film. If it does that, it could be the winner of one of the biggest awards in America’s film industry. It’s not playing in Toronto yet, but you can expect it to pop up at a screen near you before the year’s end! You can watch my interview with the director and star below.
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