Gently Swaying, Suddenly—Yet Too Soon

Notes on Elfriede Jelinek’s Screenplay "Eine Partie Dame"

Abstract

The setting is Vienna—the crossroads of crossroads of East and West political blocs. Here, Andrzej, a Polish-Jewish communist who leads an espionage ring, meets the student Lisa. She succumbs to an obsessive passion; he uses sex as a fleeting moment of happiness. The city itself functions as the third protagonist, the "appendix of Western Europe": a Babylon of languages, teeming with emigrants, Spanish Civil War veterans, and agents working for the East. Jelinek described the work’s rhythm as a gently swinging curve, cool yet suddenly disrupted by sharp spikes of action. Written in 1980, the screenplay was intended for a film production by Helmut Wietz and directed by Rainer Boldt, with Serge Gainsbourg and Tilda Swinton envisioned for the leading roles. Unfortunately, the project ultimately stalled in the labyrinthine jungle of West German film funding.