A Forgotten Man
Laurent Nègre presents a critical look at Switzerland’s wartime attitude to Germany.
It's easy to see the potential in the subject matter of this Swiss drama but that in itself only adds to one’s sense of disappointment that in the event it so clearly falls short. Written and directed by Laurent Nègre, who boldly assures us that his work was inspired (that’s the word chosen) by Thomas Hürlimann's stage play The Envoy, this film takes a critical look at Switzerland's dealings during the Second World War when it claimed neutrality. Its central figure is a Swiss ambassador to Germany first seen at the close of the war when recalled from Berlin and reunited with his family in Bern. The actor playing this role is Michael Neuenschwander and the name given to this character is Heinrich Zwygart. However, the real-life figure, the man who had this ambassadorial role from 1938 to 1945, was Hans Frölicher.
It's not at all unusual for films based on real events to include a claim akin to that found at the end of A Forgotten Man indicating that the dramatisation is a free one, but in this instance the wording stressing the fictional element is particularly strong. Perhaps this is a sign that the portrayal of Zwygart and his family is only loosely taken from the history of Hans Frölicher. Be that as it may, the film shows Zwygart haunted by his failure to save the life of a Swiss student named Maurice Bavaud (Victor Poltier) who was executed in 1941 having been tried in 1938 for his attempts to assassinate Hitler. In contrast to the use of the name of Zwygart in this instance the name used is the man’s real one.
I mention this background because it feels relevant when assessing the film. For many of us the issues raised regarding Switzerland’s wartime attitude to Germany will provide the film with subject matter that is intriguing and unfamiliar. When we see Zwygart returning to Switzerland and to what looks like a very normal, albeit decidedly well-off, family we are reminded of those Nazis whose home lives continued as normal seemingly oblivious to their involvement in the concentration camps. We may not believe that Zwygart’s guilt had been on anything like that level, but we can believe the indications that he and others had gained from business deals with the Germans and were ready to be increasingly supportive of Germany had the Allies lost the war. The belief of Heinrich Zwygart’s father (Peter Wyssbrod) that the Swiss army deserved praise for the way in which its presence was a deterrence to Germany may have been wishful thinking but it nevertheless convinces as part of the image that Switzerland wanted to create for itself. As for Zwygart, he now sees himself as a useful member of the federal council keen to butter up America and is only pulled up short when he finds himself being made a useful scapegoat for others by being forcefully asked to resign in the wake of talk that his actions when in Berlin had gone too far.
Initially it looks as though A Forgotten Man will investigate Swiss society of the period very effectively. Evoking this bygone age by photographing the film in black-and-white seems apt and Nègre is able to conceal the fact that he was using a stage play as his source. In addition, the film initially adopts a tone not that far from documentary and that invites belief. But two things interfere with that. First of all, Nègre gives Heinrich’s daughter, Helene (Cléa Eden), a boyfriend named Nicolas (Yann Philipona) who, although seen as a potential fiancé, chooses to question Heinrich about his past as preparation for a portrait of him that he plans to write. Since his questions become distinctly accusatory and hone in on Zwygart’s failure to remonstrate in support of the accused Maurice Bavaud, it seems unlikely that he would act in quite this way if he were hoping to marry Helene (it is mentioned in passing that he could be using Helene to get to Heinrich but this possibility is not followed up). Secondly, the emphasis on the Bavaud case is carried through by having it haunt Heinrich – literally so since he hallucinates images of the youth in a highly dramatic way that pitches the film into melodrama. Should one choose to read this as evidence of Heinrich losing his mind, the film requires one to believe that not having spoken out to save Maurice Bavaud could be enough to cause that. However, with the war having already started at the time of Bavaud’s trial, it is difficult to believe that any ambassador could have done anything to prevent the imprisonment and death of somebody who had indeed planned to kill Hitler. Furthermore, the film chooses to depict Zwygart acting in such a self-centred way for most of the time that it feels unexpected and too late in the day when the film belatedly allows him to reveal how he had in time come to disapprove of the Nazis.
As the film proceeds these improbabilities and Nègre’s misjudgments undermine the film. At its close A Forgotten Man does make a very effective point about the way in which political expedience becomes more important to those in power than truth being recognised. But that scene is, alas, a reminder of how persuasive A Forgotten Man ought to have been but for far too much of its length is not - and that in spite of the competent acting from its cast.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Michael Neuenschwander, Manuela Biedermann, Yann Philipona, Cléa Eden, Peter Wyssbrod, Sabine Timoteo, Victor Poltier, Margherita Schoch, Yves Raeber, Simon Romang, Dominik Gysin, Jeff Burrell.
Dir Laurent Nègre, Pro Dan Wechsler and Andreas Roald, Screenplay Laurent Nègre, Ph Diego Dussuel, Art Dir Lionel Giauque, Ed Stefan Kälin, Music Ladislav Agabekov and Christophe Calpini, Costumes Catherine Van Brée and Anne Van Brée.
Bord Cadre Films/Sovereign Films-Sovereign Film Distribution.
85 mins. Switzerland/UK. 2022. UK Rel: 10 November 2023. Cert. 15.
