This droll, remarkably controlled comedy chronicles one day in the life of a multigenerational family prepping a celebratory dinner in their cramped Berlin apartment. The first joke to quickly surface is the irony of the title — compared with siblings Karin and Simon, their parents and their little sister Clara (especially Clara), the cat is a paragon of normalcy. As breakfast is eaten, Clara (Mia Kasalo) displays her penchant for screaming, Mom (Jenny Schily) quietly flirts with the neighbour fixing the broken washing machine, doors open and close with the frequency of a bedroom farce and family members scramble hither and thither. Even material objects seem to take on near-magical properties…
Putting the absurdities of daily life on display, Ramon Zurcher’s debut feature assembles these seemingly unspectacular details and snippets into an exciting choreography of the quotidian that will leave audiences grinning at the film’s audacity and perfect execution.
Supported by
Jenny Schily, Anjorka Strechel, Mia Kasalo, Luk Pfaff, Matthias Dittmer
Germany
2013
In German with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Monday October 06
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Director
Ramon Zürcher
Born in 1982, Swiss screenwriter and director Ramon Zürcher studied visual arts at the Bern Academy of the Arts and film directing at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin. His debut feature, The Strange Little Cat premiered at Berlinale Forum in 2013 and was selected at over 80 festivals. In 2021, his second film, The Girl and the Spider, also premiered at Berlinale where it was awarded Best Director and the FIPRESCI prize in the Encounters section. The Sparrow in the Chimney is his third feature.
Filmography: The Strange Little Cat (2013); The Girl and the Spider (2021)
Photo by Iris Janke
Reflections
See more films in this series
The Strange Little Cat
This droll, perfectly executed comedy chronicles a day in the life of a multigenerational family prepping a celebratory dinner in their cramped Berlin apartment. Putting daily life’s absurdities on display, it's an exciting choreography of the quotidian.
The Girl and the Spider
Ramon and Silvan Zürcher’s sly and daring film takes place in Mara and Lisa's spacious bohemian apartment as the latter moves out. Mise-en-scène, humour, and stylized character interactions take centre stage in this pure cinematic pleasure.
The Sparrow in the Chimney
Preparations are afoot for an extravagant celebration. But as the house fills up, tensions mount and it becomes a veritable pressure cooker of familial strife. Ramon Zürcher delivers precise formal play and acute psychological mystery.
Choreographed Chaos: Ramon and Silvan Zürcher on Domestic Surrealism and Cinematic Precision
Employing collaboration and a shared vision, Ramon and Silvan Zürcher create meticulously observed, drolly absurd dramas that transform domestic spaces into surreal landscapes.
Image: © Iris Janke