The central topic of the interview is the ancient concept of a necessary balance between the dead and the living, which also assumes the notion of a constant potential for force in the world. Müller and Kluge examine this mythical conception of life with reference to personal, historical, and...
Outer space in 2034 is run by greedy corporations in a rundown bureaucracy. Two astronauts, who are not very smart, make their way with shady dealings, smuggling and spaceship wrecking.
With pictures by James Ensor and Alexander Kluge. The opera The Mute Girl of Portici tells the story of a young mute woman in Naples who is seduced by a prince. The prince abandons her and marries a princess. The mute woman has to watch and cannot protest. This opera by Auber is the only one in...
Here Müller and Kluge explicitly address a theme that is latently present in many of their conversations: the relation of intellectuals to reigning political power. Given his many writings on Frederick the Great, it is not surprising that Müller begins the discussion with the “love-hate”...
“Wastage” of humans / Comrade Mauser / “Victim of History”
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In this conversation, taking place shortly after the German reunification, Alexander Kluge and Heiner Müller discuss historical developments from the perspective of playwright Heiner Müller’s view on subjectivity. Among other things, they talk about the theoretical work of political philosopher...
A few months before his death, Müller responded to the keywords "breathing" and "smoking" with an anecdote that interprets breathing as an indiscretion towards the dead. In his view, smoking is a means of practicing stoicism: "Whoever smokes looks cold-blooded" (Brecht) and "Whoever smokes becomes...
In Danger and Dire Distress the Middle of the Road Leads to Death
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Combining fictional and documentary modes, the film takes a critical stance toward Frankfurt's public sphere and urban redevelopment. Despite the serious formal and political concerns of the film, Kluge's heightened sense of the absurd safeguards a reserve of utopian optimism.
Ballad Journal No. 9: “Cold Death Interrupts Love”
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Since German Classicism, it has become customary to translate extreme, emotional events into a ballad, a popular form of song. This ‘Balladen Magazin’ brings Cossack lamentations, the horrors of the war in Chechnya, and the execution of the unfortunate Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, among...
Kluge here presents a portrait of Friedrich the Great by means of quotations, film clips, historical images, and film documents. The program is a contribution to a public discussion about the role of the Prussian king in German and European history that unfolded after the transfer of the...
Alexander Kluge's tribute to Soviet master Dziga Vertov, displaying a collage of stills from Vertov's work on the screen of a white round TV set to the sound of brass music and percussion.
