The documentary produced with the financial support of the cavalry associations draws a critical picture of the mounted troops. The film raises the question of whether this type of weapon is still timely or just an unrealistic symbol of Swiss military will.
It shows how the animals are kept and cared for and for what purpose they are used. Off-commenting peasants express their positive views on the morale of the cavalry, but there are also officers who say that the cavalry has served its time. Imhoof himself served as a sergeant in the cavalry, the title refers to the name and number of his horse.
The film was first shown at the Solothurn Film Festival in 1970, at a time when the staff of the army organization discussed about abolishing the cavalry. The outraged cavalry associations caused a performance ban of the film after the premiere. For public performances a censored version was produced. The original version was only publicly shown again in 2002 at the Solothurn Film Festival and on television.
Festivals and Awards
– Biennale di Venezia, 1970
– Hyeres Festival Grand Prix, 1970
– Award for outstanding Quality by the
Swiss Federal Department of Culture, 1970
– Biennale, Paris, 1971
– Film award of the city Zürich, 1971
Watch the full movie (buy/lend):
Markus Imhoof with Ormenis
Press and Download
“Ormenis 199 + 69” is an ironically aggressive inventory of an ideologically scrapped soldier and equestrian pride, is an unmasking of their inanity, and to that extent has a mild antimilitarist rating. Imhoof’s film is formally located close to Jean-Luc Godard’s alienation dramaturgy after Bert Brecht.
– Martin Schlappner, Neue Zürcher Zeitung
And this is how the film came to be: a masterpiece about the cavalry in the Swiss Army of the sixties – against the cavalry in the Swiss Army of the Future.
– Frank A. Meyer, Zürcher Woche
Veröffentlichung der Fotos im Zusammenhang mit dem Film frei.