AllMovie

In this uneven drama, director Beat Kuert tries to stay as close to the story's literary source as possible, relying heavily on images. Based on a book by Herman Burger, the story is about a schoolteacher who is driven to insanity both by his irrational fear of being buried alive and his isolation in a remote part of Switzerland (Schilten). The people of the area are depicted as inhuman, lacking spirituality, and obviously not the kind of individuals to whom the schoolteacher can relate. In the film, the natural beauty of the Swiss landscape is impressive and so as the schoolteacher slips into insanity it is difficult to blame it on his surroundings.