Vollenweider

The history of a murderer, as the subtitle explains, is also the history of a guillotine that is kept and maintained in the police museum; it is set up once again for this film. In 1940, one year before Obwalden would become the last state of the Helvetic confederacy to abolish the death penalty, the last death sentence issued by a civilian criminal court was carried out using this device, in Sarnen. During the Second World War, executions arranged by military courts were carried out by firing squad. This is reminiscent of the correspondingly titled milestone from Richard Dindo's Swiss documentary films. With VOLLENWEIDER, Theo Stich ties into Dindo's style and method. He carefully and painstakingly investigates places, things, documents and contemporary witnesses. When these are no longer available, their descendants or official successors take their place. History relates the present, and traces are made visible. A living picture is created of a not so distant past, one which is found in the echoes of the present. In confessing, Vollenweider shows himself to be not only a murderer, but also a complex and contradictory personality: one who wanted to take his fate into his own hands in difficult times, yet who slipped in the process and ultimately, because of an unfortunate combination of political order and jurisdiction, paid the highest price.

"The history of a murderer, as the subtitle explains, is also the history of a guillotine that is kept and maintained in the police museum; it is set up once again for this film. In 1940, one year before Obwalden would become the last state of the Helvetic confederacy to abolish the death penalty, the last death sentence issued by a civilian criminal court was carried out using this device, in Sarnen. During the Second World War, executions arranged by military courts were carried out by firing squad. This is reminiscent of the correspondingly titled milestone from Richard Dindo’s Swiss documentary films.
With VOLLENWEIDER, Theo Stich ties into Dindo’s style and method. He carefully and painstakingly investigates places, things, documents and contemporary witnesses. When these are no longer available, their descendants or official successors take their place. History relates the present, and traces are made visible. A living picture is created of a not so distant past, one which is found in the echoes of the present. In confessing, Vollenweider shows himself to be not only a murderer, but also a complex and contradictory personality: one who wanted to take his fate into his own hands in difficult times, yet who slipped in the process and ultimately, because of an unfortunate combination of political order and jurisdiction, paid the highest price."
Visions du Réel Nyon