“The most striking of the premieres in the current Swiss series is Bruno Moll's documentary, The Whole of Life. Apparently Moll was approached by a 50-year-old lesbian identified only as Barbara, who decided that her stormy life would make excellent material for a Hollywood-style bio-pic, a sort of Alpine Tomorrow with a star like Susan Hayward. The result is something rather less seamless in detailing Barbara's arduous journey through prisons, work farms, mental hospitals, and bouts of prostitution. Moll mixes documentary scenes with adroitly minimal dramatic reconstructions. Although Barbara initially disapproves of the young actress, Serena Wey, whom Moll recruits to play her younger self--‘She's too feminine,' the star complains, ‘most people are bisexual but I'm 100% lesbian!'--the two women eventually develop a rapport, culminating in a funny, sweet scene in which Barbara shows Serena how to make a pickup in a gay bar.... The film is sensitive, intelligent, and thoroughly democratic; in the end, Barbara gets to see Serena's own self-representation as the no-nonsense lead singer in a local punk band.” Jim Hoberman, Village Voice