Mixing drama with interviews can work (see Man on Wire and The Green Prince) but The Circle, despite the touching nature of the subject, comes across as a made-for-TV film. Or a made-for-TV docu-drama - The Circle just can't make up its mind, flitting back and forth between both.
Zurich of 1956 is a liberal, sophisticated city, which is why gays and lesbians can enjoy balls and bars without too much hassle from the authorities. The titular magazine, however, although passes the censor must stay underground and Ernst Ostertag (Hungerbuhler) must keep his homosexuality secret if he hopes to secure the new teaching post at a girls' school. Zurich's open and accepting nature changes when a series of murders in the gay community sparks a crackdown, which leads to the banning of the balls and thugs taking to the streets...
The Circle's drama, beautifully realising the era and a vibrant mid-50s Zurich, is interspersed with interviews with an elderly Ernst Ostertag and his partner, nightclub drag singer Robi Rapp (played by Schelker in the flashbacks). It's this relationship that forms the backbone of the story, although it does rob the audience of an ending as we know from the off the two will get through all this and end up together. We have a happy ending before the dramatic conflict has even begun.
Director Stegan Haupt works to link the two disparate forms by using images and dialogue as a relay team to flit back and forth. In documentary mode, the ageing Ostertag takes the viewer up a stairs where, he explains to camera, the magnificent balls took place. He opens the door and the scene morphs into a flashback, with Hungerbuhler taking over from the elderly real life counterpart. Later, a young Robi suggests that he and Ernst take a stroll after breakfast and Haupt cuts to the senior couple enjoying a walk in the park. The director might find nice ways to do so, cutting back and forth stops both the drama and the documentary from building up a head of steam.
