With its mountains, its safes and its secrets, Switzerland has long been a source of inspiration for many filmmakers. In a fun and attractive book entitled ‘Switzerland at the cinema’, Arnaud Aubelle unveils 100 international films set in Switzerland.
From Laurel and Hardy to Bollywood comedies, including James Bond: for many years, Switzerland has attracted filmmakers from all over the world, just like Arnaud Aubelle who decided to compile around a hundred international films in his book ‘La Suisse au cinema’. A way to show the many facets of Switzerland on the big screen.
“I think it’s a chance for a country to have super strong codes, confides Arnaud Aubelle in the Vertigo show on May 19. There is one that I find very telling, it’s the calm aspect of Switzerland, and the fact that Switzerland is the country of secrets. It’s a veneer that you have to scrape off to discover things about the situations and the characters necessarily shady”.
From mountains to sanatoriums
Mountain landscapes have fascinated more than one person. In his work, Arnaud Aubelle cites Clint Eastwood and his film ‘La sanction’ (1975) or ‘Duel at the top’ (2008) by the German Philipp Stölzl, two films shot in the Eiger region. Many Bollywood films have also been made in our mountains.
Another recurring theme of Switzerland in cinema is medical excellence. “It is also one of the most constant themes in the history of cinema,” explains Arnaud Aubelle. Whether in ‘The Magnificent Secret’ (1954) by Douglas Sirk or ‘Bobby Deerfield’ (1977) by Sydney Pollack with Al Pacino and Marthe Keller. More recently there is also ‘Youth’ by Paolo Sorrentino (2015).
Au-delí des cliches
In addition to mountain, action and spy films, Arnaud Aubelle also had fun integrating horror films like ‘Phenomena’ (1985) by Dario Argento, or ‘Les coquettes’ (2012), an offbeat comedy in which three lovesick girlfriends go on a trip to the film festival. Locarno cinema.
In ‘Love is a Perfect Crime’, the Larrieu brothers play with the contrasts of the snowy chalet settings against the ultra modern architecture of the Rolex Learning Center. In 2014, when the film was released, Arnaud Aubelle was still working in France for the film distribution company Le Pacte. He confides that for him, this EPFL building was “fascinating like a cinema set”. Today, the adopted Nyonnais works there every day.
Comments collected by Pierre Philippe Cadert
Adaptation web: Sarah Clément
Arnaud Aubelle, ‘Switzerland at the cinema’, ed. Helvetiq, May 2026.
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