NOVEMBER 14: Germany 1945-60 Special Season - 7:00pm
The Lost One
(Peter Lorre) 1951 West Germany 98 mins
The Lost One
(Peter Lorre) 1951 West Germany 98 mins
In his only film as director, Lorre adapted his own novel about a doctor whose feelings of guilt only intensify as he tries to adapt to postwar Germany. Heavily influenced by expressionism, characters are always captured in half-light, & one can physically sense his growing, murderous rage against his assistant & his lover. An impressive first film, it was nevertheless a failure with a German public unwilling to confront questions of individual & collective guilt. Imported 35mm print.
Preceded by:
Brutality in Stone
Alexander Kluge (1960) 12 mins. Kluge's early meditation on Germany's Nazi past. The mobile camera ranges over the ruins of monumental Nazi architecture accompanied by a disjunctive sound.
Articles from CTEQ Annotations on Film:
Relevant Articles from Senses of Cinema:
"Great Directors Critical Database: Alexander Kluge" - Michelle Langford
NOVEMBER 14: Germany 1945-60 Special Season - 9:00pm
The Bridge
(Bernhard Wicki) 1959 West Germany 103 mins
The Bridge
(Bernhard Wicki) 1959 West Germany 103 mins
During the dying days of WWII seven school pupils are called up to defend a bridge from the advancing US troops. Accurately depicting the home front, Wicki takes a homogeneous group in a single location to illustrate the absurdity & meaninglessness of war. Filmed in a direct, documentary style reminiscent of Sam Fuller, this intellectually sincere film packs an emotional wallop, deservedly earning the film an Oscar nomination & a reputation as one of the best post-war German films. Imported 35mm print.
Preceded by:
Machorka-Muff
Jean-Marie Straub/Daničle Huillet (1963) 18 mins. Straub & Huillet take up Heinrich Böll's theme of the imposition of militarism on West Germany against the wishes of the majority. A subtle critique achieved through the accumulation of documentary detail shaped by precise & spare use of camera placement & sound to connote the moral vacuity of the characters.
Articles from CTEQ Annotations on Film: