Erlkönig (2015)

Wissenswertes

Erlking is a 2015 Swiss animated short film directed by Georges Schwizgebel. It is an adaptation of the poem "Erlkönig" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, about a father who rides with his sick son who thinks he sees the erlking, and features music from Franz Schubert's setting of the poem. The music is performed by Louis Schwizgebel, the director's son.

Production

Georges Schwizgebel got the idea to adapt Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 1782 poem "Erlkönig" for film when his son, the pianist Louis Schwizgebel, performed Franz Schubert's "Erlkönig" in China. Louis Schwizgebel explained to the audience that the story is based on four characters: the narrator, the father, the son and the erlking. Georges Schwizgebel wanted to express this by using distinct visuals for each character.

The film was produced by Schwizgebel's company Studio GDS in Geneva and was supported by Radio Télévision Suisse. Schwizgebel was the producer, writer, director, production designer, animator, cinematographer and editor. Compositing was done by Boris Rabusseau and sound mixing by Louis Schwizgebel.

The film was made with cel animation. The visual style is inspired by paintings by Henri Matisse, notably Dance (1909–1910). The animation uses loops and circular motions to evoke beginnings and ends and create an impression of a moving painting. The narrator and the father are expressed through the same visual markers.

The film features Schubert's "Erlkönig" music arranged by Franz Liszt for solo piano, performed by Louis Schwizgebel. Georges Schwizgebel chose to not include the sung poem in order to not distract any viewers from the images with subtitles. The short synopsis at the beginning was added due to warnings that non-German speakers may not be familiar with the story.

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