Jonas, der im Jahr 2000 25 Jahre alt sein wird

I first saw this film when it was new. When I saw the title in a local video store, I couldn't resist the chance to see it again on the eve of Jonah's 25th birthday. Some of the political rhetoric is dated, but in some ways it's amazing how little has changed. The film is in some ways about taking stock of one's life. And seeing it twice, almost 25 years apart, certainly helped me to do that.

For a French-speaking American younger than Jonas would now be, I couldn't always easily connect with the collection of colorful individuals (among others, an unorthodox high school teacher, a couple of organic vegetable farmers, a laid-off type-setter, a disillusioned journalist, an eccentric cashier with a compassionate bent, and a redhead captivated by tantric sex) that got together in this film, post Paris manifestations of May '68, to share their frustrations, their ruminations and their fantasies. But the film chewed on heaps of intriguing controversial issues of the time - many lines taken directly from Octavio Paz and Pablo Neruda - which continue to stir emotion in any thinking, feeling individual. The film is also personal, full of heart and full of intellectual stimulation. It's melancholic and nostalgic, yet wistfully optimistic. Recommended to anyone interested in the provocative issues that fomented the famous student demonstrations around the world just a few years before this film was conceived.

And I thought I was a radical activist in my student years of the late 60's. I was aware of rising social consciousness, rebellion against materialism and corporate greed. I was not aware back then how world wide the phenomenon was. I am still surprised when I find evidence that breaks with tradition and convention were going on in Poland, France, and well, yeah, Switzerland? And from the mid 70's on, I can relate to the pressures to find our place in a world of work - constantly seeking meaningful employment in a system that rarely reflects our new values. These characters, Organic Farmers, Creative History Professor, Sketcher of Animals, Proofreader, Grocery Cashier, and more are still seeking meaningful lives and relationships. Even in unorthodox sexual experimentation they seek meaningful respectful relationships. I am Labor. With my intellectual pursuits, study of French Language and foreign Cultures, Humanitarian Concerns, Respect for Nature - I thought I would be so much more in my life. As these characters, who seem to slowly accept the existential realities of that post 60's burst of Hope - we now pass those hopes on silently to our children.

This movie elegantly captures the zeitgeist of ca 1975, seen through individual lives of some Genevans who in minor ways attempt to keep the sparkle of rebellion alive while their dreams from 1968 fade away, facing the reality of the 1970s. Its blend of tongue-in-cheek comedy and melancholy sadness makes it impossible to forget once you've seen it.

This movie may seem an essay on political realities of 70's, but in fact it's so much more. It's like a flower blooming, I enjoyed every moment of it - because it's about life, and eternal questions, and existence. Seventies were a golden age of cinema, I believe - not as naive as sixties already, not yet too commercialised as eighties. Directors had an opportunity of discussing profound questions, and taking their time to do it. The movie is not a bit outdated, and it never will. Tanner is a genius of drawing a picture of ordinary people everyday lives, through which an eternal light shines. It's true to the core - a real art. A movie that makes you better.