LA VANITÉ

Vanity: an intense feeling of self-satisfaction or, in art history, a composition centred on a skull, representing each human being’s inevitable mortality. The title’s polysemy aptly evokes the character of David Miller, a terminally ill architect in his 70s who decides to end his life in a motel room. He requires the services of an assisted-suicide organization. Esperanza, played by the Almodóvar favourite, Carmen Maura, is assigned to help him, but Swiss law demands that there also be a witness to the procedure. Enter the young Russian prostitute from the next room. We’re all familiar with Belgian comedy by now, and not it’s time for some twisted Swiss humour. The film strikes a delicate balance between light fantasy and the serious topic of assisted suicide. A powerful man wants control over everything, including his own death, and having chosen his deathbed, there are confessions to be made. Three very different strangers are brought together by chance and share an indescribable — and strangely positive — moment. Uneasy strangeness and unexpected satire unite in a work that follows the classical rule.


With the support of the Swiss Consulate