VOLKER SCHLÖNDORFF

Instead of an expertise

It was a great pleasure for me to see WORLD ON A WIRE again, and I hope that many viewers will be able to see the restored, digital version in the future. Oddly enough, like so many other things, our reality has almost surpassed the futurist scenario depicted in SIMULACRON-3. However, we must stress, “Almost surpassed, ” because—as is the case with all good science fiction—a visionary element remains that will never be caught-up with, surpassed, or seem antiquated.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder and the equally young, congenial Michael Ballhaus anticipated the aesthetic and the associative editing known from such serials as CSI. Ballhaus’s famous 360-degree tracking shots are performed here with virtuosity long before he encircled Michelle Pfeiffer in the BAKER BOYS. The timeless clarity of the images evokes comic-book impressions, comparable to contemporary Op- and Pop-Art painting.

The stylized acting of the “usual suspects” of Fassbinder’s gang makes the affinity to fine arts even more obvious: The dominant power is Klaus Löwitsch with his juvenile energy, but the other actors are no less noteworthy. Among them Kurt Raab, Günter Lamprecht, who later became Biberkopf in BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ, Gottfried John, Karl-Heinz Vosgerau, and especially Walter Sedlmayr. This is also a rediscovery of some of the German film stars from the 1950s, such as Adrian Hoven and Ivan Desny. Sadly, the Young German Film (including myself) usually neglected them. Appearances of great actresses include Margit Carstensen, Mascha Rabben and Katrin Schaake. What turns this film into a unique time document is the presence of such personalities as Werner Schroeter, Eddie Constantine, Karsten Peters (AZ), Rainer Langhans, Doris Mattes, Christine Kaufmann and many others. Fassbinder portrayed them all in the most loving and merciless ways.

These days we watch reruns of DERRICK and DER ALTE every night. It is a good thing to remember that Fassbinder will forever be ahead of these serials because he turned the trivial into art.


January 27, 2009

 
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