Podtalk: Writer/Director Laurent Négre on ‘A Forgotten Man’

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CHICAGO – The 20th Century crisis that was World War II resulted in a bloodbath for virtually all of European and Allied countries … except in “neutral” Switzerland. Veteran writer and director Laurent Négre, a Swiss native, pokes the holes of truth into that overinflated neutrality in the imported feature film “A Forgotten Man.”

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Set in 1945 at the final days of World War II, the story involves Heinrich Zwygart (Michael Neuenschwander) … the Swiss Ambassador to Germany … returning home to Geneva with wartime PTSD and a cache of secrets about the relationship of “neutral” Switzerland to the just-defeated Nazi regime. Thinking he would have a cakewalk in his homecoming, especially with the dirt he has on the Swiss leadership, he is greeted with indifference from his government, wife Clara (Manuela Biedermann), daughter Helene (Cléa Eden) and Helene’s boyfriend Nicolas (Yann Philipona), who pursues the truth for the “school paper.” The past is closing in on the forgotten man Zwygart.

Writer/Director Laurent Négre (inset) of ‘A Forgotten Man’
Photo credit: Sovereign Films/Bord Cadre Films

The tension is ratcheted up by the singular performance of Neuenschwander, whose every emotion rises to the surface in his portrayal of Zwygart’s trauma in trying to distance himself from the Nazis. As a history lesson, “A Forgotten Man” smashes the myth of Swiss neutrality, something that the culture has handily embraced since the war. Although the story has a a soft conclusion, the portray of a man utterly destroyed by complicity mirrors the famous aphorism – used at a crucial point in the film – “the first casualty of war is the truth.”

Writer/Director Laurent Nègre was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and graduated in 2002 after studying cinema at the Ecole Supèrieure des Beaux Arts of Geneva. His first narrative feature as writer/director was “Fragile” (2005), starring Marthe Keller, followed by “Opération Casablanca” (2010) and “Confusion” (2015). “A Forgotten Man” is his fourth feature film.

In a Podtalk interview by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, writer/director Laurent Négre provides context for “A Forgotten Man” …

Trailer, “A Forgotten Man” …

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor and Film Critic/Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com