KOMMUNISTEN

Taking Le temps du mépris (Days of Wrath) by André Malraux as its starting point, Straub reconsiders the popular struggles of the 1920s through 1940s in Nazi Germany, fascist Italy and colonial Egypt. From its fragments and tableaux, most drawn from the previous five films by Straub and Huillet, emerges a striking portrait of the horrors of the 20th century. Straub doggedly follows his train of thought on history and the narratives we make of it, including his own. As always, the text is deconstructed, ground up, recited in unlikely rhythms, read, declaimed. It is always recognizable as text, blending the personal and the political, a test of our intelligence, and an appeal to it. It is set against the backdrop of a disturbing question: are ideologies truly dead as many like to say, or do their most violent manifestations pervert our lives until they cease to be visible to us? This is a transparency and naturalism that the Straubs’ films steadfastly reject. Here, the image is important for what it refuses to be — spectacular, beautiful, narrative — and for what it promotes: duration, seriousness, attention. This is a way of thinking in images that remains intellectually shocking, even for those familiar with the director’s work.

preceded by la guerre d'algérie?!