As part of the exhibition
Marx in the Study, the Goethe-Institut will be screening Alexander Kluge’s film
News from Ideological Antiquity in its entirety. In this epic film (over 9 hours long!), Kluge takes inspiration from Sergei Eisenstein, putting one of his dream projects into action – a cinematic translation of Karl Marx’s
Capital.
Drop by the Goethe-Institut anytime throughout the day, whether to watch the full film or just a few portions. While you are here, make sure to also contribute your thoughts on Marx to our exhibition, letting his works inspire you. And put Marx’s theories into action with a few rounds of Marxist-themed board games. To kick off the marathon, and to fuel those planning on seeing the whole film,
Emissary DC will be providing coffee and croissants in the morning.
News from Ideological Antiquity (Nachrichten aus der ideologischen Antike)
Germany, 2008, 570 min., Director: Alexander Kluge
“I have made the decision to film CAPITAL based on Karl Marx’s scenario”, Sergei Eisenstein wrote in his notes on October 12, 1927. Eisenstein, who had revolutionized the language of film with
Battleship Potemkin (1926), wanted to “cinematize” Marx’s book. Eisenstein believed that the challenge posed by such a work, drawing on innovative forms derived from James Joyce’s
Ulysses, would fundamentally shift the cinematic arts.
80 years later, Alexander Kluge comments on Eisenstein’s monumental Plan. In three parts, he collects cinematic miniatures of Marx’s theory, which seems as far away from us as antiquity. Interviews with Peter Sloterdijk, Dietmar Dath, Oskar Negt, Boris Groys, Rainer Stollmann, and others provide divergent perspectives of Marx’s
Capital.
With films like
Yesterday Girl (1966, “
Abschied von Gestern”) and his participation in the anthology film
Germany in Autumn (1978, “
Deutschland im Herbst”), Alexander Kluge is one of the most notable representatives of the New German Cinema movement. In April 2008, the German Film Awards honored him with the Special Award for Outstanding Contributions to German Cinema.
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