The Shadows Grow Longer (1961)
The Shadows Grow Longer (German: Die Schatten werden länger) is a 1961 Swiss drama film directed by Ladislao Vajda. The film was selected as the Swiss entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 34th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Reviews
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
It is not clear whether this was meant as a melodrama or as a Problemfilm that concerns itself with difficult adolescent girls. In the end it is neither: it ends like a trash thriller, while exploitation is constantly in the background. Vajda's direction is only competent and does not do anything to make an already so-so script work. The film could have been dismissed were it not that there is Luise Ulrich, German star since the 30's is in the cast.