The power of feelings

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title The power of feelings
Original title The power of feelings
Country of production FRG
original language German
Publishing year 1983
length 115 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Alexander Kluge
script Alexander Kluge
music Giuseppe Verdi
camera Werner Lüring Thomas Mauch
cut Carola Mai Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus
occupation

The Power of Emotions is an episode film from 1983 in which different scenes stand next to each other like a montage. Hannelore Hoger plays a central role as a defendant. Numerous references to earlier Kluge films are hidden. The title is aimed primarily at the opera, which Kluge describes as the "powerhouse of feelings". He adopted this expression from his friend Werner Schroeter .

content

In the form of image and sound collage that is typical for him, Kluge shows the power and effect of feelings and their organization through the mind in more than 20 short stories. The most important example of the world of feelings in a cold and rational environment (for Kluge the city of Frankfurt / Main) is the art form of opera, which he describes as the "powerhouse of feelings" and in which feelings are often exaggerated. Kluge not only shows a possible utopia, namely the positive organization of emotions, but also questions its negative influence on human decisions. In order to arouse an interest in this decision in the viewer, Kluge wants to sharpen the mind of the viewer by showing the dialectic of human behavior that is controlled by feelings. To do this, he uses documentary material, short play scenes, excerpts from old films, opera quotes, commentary reflections and subtitles. The individual episodes are mostly self-contained, but some are resumed later. Despite a lightness that is almost unaccustomed to Kluge, his film is difficult to access due to its intellectual and playful variation and requires the viewer to be very willing to deal with the problem of emotions that are both productive and destructive.

(Source: Fischer Film Almanach 1983, Fischer TB Verlag, Frankfurt / Main, 1983)

criticism

“A collage film rich in ideas, details and associations, which uses game scenes, documentary images, archive material and borrowings from opera music to formulate insights into human feelings, their destructive and creative abilities. By trying to make time tangible as a new experience, connections between everyday things, myths and politics become visible. Not an easily accessible, but intellectually stimulating film that requires the viewer's willingness to combine in order to understand. "

- Lexicon of International Films

Awards

Alexander Kluge won the FIPRESCI Prize in Venice in 1983.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Interview with Werner Schroeter on FAZ.NET
  2. ↑ The Power of Emotions in the Lexicon of International Films