The year is 1900 in the French-speaking Swiss Alps. Elisabeth (Lilith Grasmug), 17, is forced to leave her convent because her sister, Innocente, has died and the family farm needs another hand. So far, so classical, but what begins as a gorgeously photographed tale of a deeply religious community eking out a subsistence living soon evolves into a fever dream of sexual hysteria when Elisabeth, emboldened by her sister’s explicit journal, seeks spiritual enlightenment through sexual exultation.
First-time writer-director Carmen Jaquier tackles some big issues here—religious repression vs. female liberation via sexuality; the relationship between religious ecstasy and orgasmic pleasures; the body vs. the spirit—but the foundational point of her story is the dramatization and embrace of the vividness of being alive: the bracingly fresh air, crystalline running water, effusive vegetation, and above all, the penetrating light of the immense mountain setting. Replete with indelible images that will remain with you for days, Thunder marks a bold debut from a talent to watch.
Supported by
Lilith Grasmug, Mermoz Melchior, Benjamin Python, Noah Watzlawick, Sabine Timoteo, François Revaclier
Switzerland
2022
In French with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
A Sad and Beautiful World
This Lebanese love story chronicles the romance between a level-headed businesswoman and a romantic restauranteur across several decades in wartorn Beirut. It's funny, charming, melancholy and you'll feel it all.
How to Divorce During the War
Screenwriter Vytus is left reeling when on successive days his wife demands a divorce and Russia invades Ukraine. Blazevicius' masterful feature emerges as an engrossing satire about virtue signaling, nationalism, good intentions, and survival modes.
Edie Arnold is a Loser + Q&A
Loaded with breakneck gags in the spirit of Scott Pilgrim, but with a distinctly female-centered point of view, Megan Rico and Kade Atwood's hilarious teen comedy hits VIFF Centre on its 16 city whistlestop North American tour. Filmmaker Q&A.
The Sun Never Sets
At the suggestion of her much older (divorced) boyfriend, Wendy (Dakota Fanning) takes a summer to reevaluate her life and date other people. She's reluctant at first, but then reconnects with an old flame... A gentle indie comedy from Joe Swanberg.
Hanging by a Wire
The Himalayas, Aug 22, 2023: a cable car bearing 8 passengers (six of them schoolkids) is left dangling 900 feet above the ground when two out of three cables snap. This nailbiting documentary recounts the increasingly frantic rescue attempts.
Credits
Producer
Flavia Zanon, Joëlle Bertossa
Screenwriter
Carmen Jaquier
Cinematography
Marine Atlan
Editor
Xavier Sirven
Production Design
Ivan Niclass, Rekha Musale
Original Music
Nicolas Rabaeus
Director
Carmen Jaquier
Born in Geneva, Switzerland, Carmen Jaquier studied graphic design before entering the Cantonal School of Art in Lausanne (ECAL). Her films have been showcased at the Locarno Film Festival: her graduation film Le Tombeau des filles (2011) received the Pardino d’argento, and La Rivière sous la langue and Heimatland were selected in 2015. She was a cinematographer on the documentary A Bright Light: Karen and the Process (2018), which was presented at Visions du Réel. Thunder is her first feature film.