In this short film, Troell is mocking with the absurd EU regulation requiring compulsory marking of all domestic animals with yellow tags, attached to their ears as a proof of identity and origin. ‘The Yellow Tag’ is the author’s comment on current practice, but also a warning on the absurd consequences that such a practice might have in future. Thus, more serious issues – the ones of identity, legitimacy and control in the world – emerge from underneath the general laid-back humoristic tone of the film.
Jan Troell
Before he became one of the leading Swedish directors in the 1960s, Jan Troell (1931) had spent nine years working in a primary school. His films ‘The Emigrants’ (1972) and ‘The New Land’ (1973) made him world famous.
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The Yellow Tag
Sweden
2004, 5', color, video
Directed by:
Jan Troell
Screenplay by:
Jan Troell
Cinematography:
Jan Troell
Edited by:
Ulrika Rang
Music:
Magnus Dahlberg
Producer:
Göran Gunér
Produced by:
Athena film, Svenska Filminstitutet, Dansk Filminstitutet
