L.A. X
Theatrical release: 01/08/2002 (Switzerland)
World premiere at the Hof Film Festival 2001
A man in his late twenties lands at Los Angeles airport. He rents a car and takes up residence in the first motel room he finds. We join him on an entertaining and emotional journey, a journey into his past and the resulting present. The traveler becomes a stranded man.
Film technical starting position
L.A. X was realized with the slightest possible effort; three people were on the set. Filming was done with a small DV camera because not only intimacy but, above all, flexibility were important. The makers were thoroughly familiar with the main character. Except for the "plot points," the story was undefined, the path towards its improvisation. Within a precisely defined visual concept, it was possible, without restrictions due to material costs or lack of filming permits, to shoot completely carefree.
Narrative form
L.A. X is a "one-man play." There was no classic script. There were only pre-set structural points. Encounters were improvisation.
At first glance, one finds oneself on an emotional, unpredictable journey through the American West. But the trip is a journey to himself. Again and again, he seeks contact by telephone with a person whose identity remains hidden from us for the time being. His reactions reflect his past, expressed as improvisations by actor and camera, a camera that almost becomes a second actor through its participation in the action. The setting of this journey also reflects the turmoil of the traveler: the oscillation between glamorous dream destination and desolation forces the protagonist to actively confront himself and his surroundings.
Director: Florian Froschmayer
Genre: Drama, Road Movie
Year of filming: 2001
Filming locations: Los Angeles, Arizona, Nevada
Cast: Martin Rapold
Photo: © Florian Froschmayer
Watch the full-length movie here.
Go West Young Man
He came on the Swiss film scene like a hurricane: Florian Froschmayer. A portrait of an exciting lateral entrant
When Florian Froschmayer made his first feature film, "Exklusiv", in 1999, audiences were mesmerized. They had never seen something as un-Swiss as this - mass scenes, pursuit and action. "Exklusiv" was characterized by highly professional product placement, unusual for local films. Flo Froschmayer, then blond and just 27 years old, was more like a young Hollywood than a young Swiss filmmaker. In addition, he financed his film without public funds. For some, Froschmayer was the bad boy. For others - the great hope of Swiss film.
For Froschmayer, who previously worked as an editor for television and advertising, «Exklusiv» was above all his first experience with the media, critics and the public. "Nothing came afterwards," he says. "Everyone was waiting for my next project, and I didn't have one." Two years later, he made his next feature film, "LA. X ". A piece for a cameraman, a director and an actor. To settle in the tradition of Clemens Klopfenstein and the early Wim Wenders in the area of dogma film. And again, Froschmayer amazes audiences with his work: "L.A. X" can be described as a European feature film made in the USA.
ALL ABOUT THE FEELING
This change of style is pure coincidence. Froschmayer lets his emotions decide when, how and where he films. First, he asks himself what he has not seen on canvas yet, and then, what he would like to see. Thirdly, he clarifies the possibilities open to him at the moment. In the case of "L.A. X ", it was the option of a trip to America that Froschmayer had planned together with Martin Rapold, the leading actor in "Exklusiv". He and Rapold were particularly interested in the improvisation. Apart from this, the film was to revolve around an ordinary guy, who has to solve a banal problem: how to pass the lonely time after a separation. Froschmayer admits that the unnamed hero from "L.A. X " underwent some transformations. They originally thought of telling the story of a mass murderer on the run. "But with so much improvisation, actors and directors have to understand the character," says director Froschmayer today. Guided by reason, they shelved these wild plans.
“I JUST WANT TO MAKE MOVIES”
As for role models, Froschmayer shrugs his shoulders. Rapold would gush over "Paris, Texas", but he only knew about Wim Wender's "The Million Dollar Hotel". The fact that "L.A. X " was filmed in the USA was mainly due to the already planned trip. To change this, tests in Munich and Switzerland would have had to show that improvised films were hardly possible here: spontaneous conversation is hardly possible, let alone filming. "In the United States, on the other hand, we had complete unknowns in the right position."
It was shot from April to May 2001, with a mini DV camera. "There was no real screenplay, but Rapold and I knew exactly what we wanted. I let Rapold improvise, making sure he did not stab himself. Money was not a big problem in this case either. "LA. X", due to the micro-crew, cost only 260,000 francs.gins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
He has as many abstruse stories about the difficult search for money as any other Swiss filmmaker. After "Exklusiv" he would sometimes reach the point where he wanted to give up. "I just want to make movies and have fun," he says. Froschmayer is a natural blonde. His temples are beginning to grey. The young savage has become more mature. And you can be excited about what's going to come to him if he continues to film based on intuition.
Outlet: TELE (Switzerland)
Date: January 5th, 2002
Circulation in 2002: 220.000 (Switzerland’s premier TV-Guide)
TELE is a Swiss program magazine based in Zurich. It was founded in 1967 by Hans Ringier, then manager of the Swiss publishing house Ringier. In 2007, the Swiss media company Jean Frey AG (since November 2007 «Axel Springer Schweiz AG») took over the magazine. In addition to Tele, TV-Star, TV 2 and TV 4 are among the program media of Axel Springer Schweiz AG. Tele and TV-Star have been awarding the Swiss Television Prize since 2008.Tele is the only Swiss TV magazine that also contains the programs of the digital channels.