Charles, Dead or Alive (French: Charles mort ou vif) is a 1969 Swiss drama film written and directed by Alain Tanner. Starring François Simon, Marcel Robert and Marie-Claire Dufour, it concerns a middle-aged industrialist who tries to break away from his bourgeois life. The film won the Golden Leopard at the 1969 Locarno International Film Festival.
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Synopsis
Charles, a 50-year-old industrialist, abandons his comfortable bourgeois way of life to live with a Bohemian couple. He ultimately ends up confined to a mental institution.
Cast
The cast includes:
François Simon as Charles Dé
Marie-Claire Dufour as Adeline
Marcel Robert as Paul
André Schmidt as Pierre Dé
Maya Simon as Marianne Dé
Production
According to Alison Smith, Tanner translated the events of May 1968 in France to a Swiss setting, creating in the film an imagined student revolt in a society that had not experienced the same turmoil or revolutionary possibility.
Reception
Awards
At the 1969 Locarno International Film Festival, the film won the Golden Leopard.
Critical response
Filmdienst described the film as a convincing exploration of a life crisis and, at the same time, a bitter portrait of Swiss reality. Variety noted that Tanner’s first feature, Charles, Dead or Alive, won Locarno’s top prize in 1969. Swissinfo wrote that it marked the first time New Swiss Cinema received international attention, and described it as launching “politically shaped Swiss auteur cinema”.
Festival screenings
The film premiered in 1969. In later years, it was screened at festivals including the Ankara International Film Festival in 1998, the Solothurner Filmtage in 2015, the 72nd Locarno Film Festival in 2019, Cineuropa 35 in Santiago de Compostela in 2021, and the 51st Telluride Film Festival in 2024.