Seuls
Francis Reusser (Switerland, 1981, 100 min.)
The first frames of the film depict a woman, rushing into a photobooth, taking a set of pictures, and then waiting, with increasing impatience, a full two minutes before abandoning her photos and running away again.
Shortly thereafter, Jean (Niels Arestrup) finds the photos (in the two-by-two configuration common in the 1980s and into the 2000s), and, struck by the resemblance of the woman to his late mother, goes on a quest to find the woman's identity.
Thanks to my colleague Frédéric Maire, Swiss film expert, for recommending this film when I asked about Swiss films with photobooths. I've never before seen a real-time wait for photos depicted so accurately, nor can I think of any other films which feature a photobooth under the entire opening credits. I should have discovered a film with a photobooth, a funicular, and home movies—three of my favorite things—sooner, but I'm glad to have done so now.
Contributed by Frédéric Maire, Brian
