Unrest: Cyril Schäublin’s film makes it readily apparent why Anarchism would flourish in a place such as the small Swiss village where watchmaking seems to be the main activity. A gentle place where nevertheless every second and centime is accounted for and controlled will do that; the film, however, chooses to be as emotionless and mechanic as the activity itself. It’s also quite didactic and academicist, exploring the minutiae of all mechanisms while ignoring the people. The performances are understandably in the lowest of low keys, but not many characters get repeated attention; Clara Gostynski, as one highly specialized worker, gives a nice speech late in the film. The work of cinematographer Silvan Hillmann is quite interesting, mostly skewing away from traditional coverage and mixing extreme close-ups of the watchmaking process with wide shots unusually framed. The period recreation, done mostly through costume designer Linda Harper’s work, is clean but unremarkable.