Paul Nizon : le clou dans la tête

An intimate portrait of the great Swiss author Paul Nizon, whose sensual, elegant prose places him among the most celebrated German-language writers. Having fled his ​“Zurich cocoon” because he found himself ​“emotionally malnourished in Switzerland,” Nizon chose to distance himself from society and moved to Paris in the 1970s to write about his own experience. Rediscovering his desire for happiness in that city, he was able to give his inner life full rein. In this film, notable for the openness of expression between writer and director, Nizon looks back over his life of anti-conformism and solitude. He freely and unsentimentally talks about his career, his flaws, and his need for unconditional freedom. Excerpts from his writings are skilfully illustrated by reconstructions so close to the self-fiction written by Nizon that they are utterly believable. An invitation to (re)discover his work.