This movie is one of three feature films made by Swiss writer Matthias Zschokke in the eighties and nineties. The other two, Edvige Scimitt and Der Wilde Mann, are not on imdb. This really surprises me as they are anything but amateur flicks. All three movies star the same good German actors and actresses, all are well directed and edited and have excellent fotography and create a truly unique atmosphere which I am sure would have great appeal with an international audience. Therefore I hope that someday someone will salvage these films and present them to movie buffs all over the world, preferably on DVD.
The real title of this movie is Erhöhte Waldbrandgefahr. This means increased danger of wood fires and sounds very official as the term is used frequently in weather bulletins. The main character of the movie is in fact a weather forecaster. He makes songs of his reports, and Erhöhte Waldbrandgefahr actually is the refrain of one of them. The audience will hear it! But we don't see the forecaster at work. He dwells in a nice place, spending his time philosophizing and working on his love affairs. There is no firm story line but many interesting situations that are often melancholy and amusing at the same time.
The movie was shot on location. They used an old hotel of the Belle Epoque (Giessbach, on the Lake of Brienz) in a way you think it is a town of the old Austrian-Hungarian empire (there is even a funicular). I highly recommend this entertaining and thought provoking movie to anyone.
