Young Christoph Marti realizes that he won’t find happiness in his tedious job as a bookbinder. So, on the spur of the moment, he takes a job as the eponymous assistant for the inventor and entrepreneur Tobler. Tobler explicitly wants someone who doesn’t just blindly follow orders, but acts independently and wisely.

From then on, Marti lives and works on the estate of Tobler and his demanding wife, who shows little interest in her daughter—and increasingly discovers inconsistencies. The mailman constantly delivers bills, even though Tobler’s company generates hardly any revenue. Outwardly, appearances are maintained, while behind the scenes, both the company and the family are heading toward disaster. Marti finds himself asking the question with ever-greater urgency: Where does his loyalty as a servant end, and when is the right moment to rub salt into the open wound?

At first glance, the artist couple Sasnal interprets Robert Walser’s text “The Assistant” in a classical style, at a leisurely pace and with historical sets. But as the ambiguities in the plot intensify, their style also becomes fluid—the pace quickens and slows, more and more errors creep into the visual composition, and the plot occasionally veers into the fantastical. They masterfully develop their material using every audiovisual means at their disposal. [Rainer Mende]