“Late Shift”: a foreign film with a universal message
This is an unusual film, wonderfully made and with a powerful narrative. It is Swiss and located in German-speaking Zurich. In fact, virtually the entire film is set in one building, a local hospital, and over just one night, the titular shift.
We follow the work of one dedicated nurse Floria (played magnificently by Leonie Benesch) as she copes with demand after demand from a variety of adult patients. For much of the film, it has the feel of a documentary but, as the pressure mounts, it becomes something else. The camera follows Floria up close and the viewer feels by her side, sharing the tension as the pacing and the music become more urgent.
The message is clear: nurses are heroes, we need many more of them, and meanwhile we make impossible demands of them. The film is a really impressive work by director Petra Volpe and highly commended.