So as I sat down to watch The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz, Fata Morgana and Handicapped Future my mind was very much an empty vessel of expectation, just waiting to be filled with whatever Herzog had to offer.
It was late, I started at 2200 and didn't finish my screening till about 0300. It must be noted that being visually impaired means it takes me a while to read subtitles and I usually have to pause the film to read each one. Playing films on a video game console is actually better for this as the controls are designed to react quicker to your commands so pausing is a lot more efficient.
It must also be said before I start that because I tend to indulge in mainstream culture more than anything, I'm afraid my references will not be to obscure arthouse or foreign films for the most part, however I am trying to broaden my horizons.
THE UNPRECEDENTED DEFENCE OF THE FORTRESS DEUTSCHKREUZ
I don't watch many short films so I knew even less of what to expect from this work. If prose short stories are anything to go by then I knew I'd be witnessing an event with only a hint of context or backstory. I assumed it'd be to the point but powerful.
The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz reminded me of early Stanley Kubrick films, specifically Paths of Glory. It has stark black and white cinematography and a particular opinion on the nature of war, which is painted in commendably subtle and mature brushstrokes.
The film is essentially a silent work except for a non-diagetic narration which feels more like a stream of consciousness soliloquy than an actual description of what is happening on screen. I was never certain that what the narrator was talking about was directly linked to the action. This is an interesting point as a similar device is used in Fata Morgana, which I will talk about next.
We are told the history of a building, but whether that history is true or the history of the building we see is another matter. Apparently it used to be a hospital for people with mental health problems and the narrator hints that this may have an effect on upcoming events.
The building - an abandoned fortress - is visited by four young men who appear to be out on a leisurely stroll. To be honest, this part felt like the start of a Euro gay porn video, which I'm sure says a lot more about me than it does about the film. Anyway, the four men investigate the fortress while the narrator continues to create an abstract picture with his seemingly unconnected statements.
The young men find army uniforms and artillery and seem to descend from simple playful roughhousing to madness in the space of a few hours, treating their stay at the fortress like a genuine tour of duty, even disciplining another member of their unit at one point.
The tension came, for me at least, by not knowing how far the young men were going to go and how explicitly the bleak outlook of the film was going to be presented.
The film ends more obscurely with the four men charging out of the fortress' gates into an invisible battle.
The abandoned fortress, it's supposed chequered past and the deteriorating reality that the young men experience creates an interesting film that is both amusing and poignant.
It feels like a student film - but a smart one. It looks great and has genuine atmosphere and generates an emotion in the viewer. It's simple, basic production could serve as a good masterclass for young filmmakers trying to choose their first project.
A quick treat!
FATA MORGANA
Now this is where the evening took a weird turn.
Fata Morgana begins with planes landing. About five minutes worth. Because this is classed as a fictional feature film I assumed we were seeing the arrival of a character who would then go on to experience some sort of adventure or drama.
But no, just more planes.
After three minutes we finally get some music creeping into the speakers so we know that this isn't going to be it for the next seventy-three minutes. Then we get shots of what appears to be a desert. Maybe some mirages. I wasn't sure. It continues like this.
Then a narration starts which, like The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz, feels only tenuously connected to what we're seeing. It sounds like religious mythology, Old Testament type stuff.
The film is split into three sections: Creation, Paradise and The Golden Age, which the narration does, at least, seem to adhere to, however the imagery is random at best.
But there IS a connection between the imagery and the dialogue - it's just not a direct one. Not one that we can acknowledge with reason and logic. The two, instead, create a mood that is apocalyptic and sad. We see footage of desert highways, abandoned machinery, dead cattle, third world squalor and working factories. Where do the highways lead? Where did the machinery come from? How did the cattle die? How do the people living in squalor survive? Who or what do the factories serve? We're never told and this lack of knowing creates an unsettling atmosphere that never ceases.
Forty-five minutes in we finally get someone talking on camera. This film was shot around the Sahara desert and, while we get to see the indigenous people at work and at play, the first people who speak on camera are white people seemingly there for scientific purposes. Or are they remnants of a colonial era? I wasn't too sure of that either.
The westerners seem to be going native and act in an exaggerated, delirious fashion which I couldn't quite understand. Were these real people or actors? Were they members of the film crew?
But why Fata Morgana is labelled a work of fiction rather than a documentary is, I assume, because it's not giving us information. It's not telling us anything. Using the juxtaposition of the pious narration and the bleak, depressing imagery the film is provoking emotions from the viewer instead of thoughts.
The film is tough, hypnotic and disturbing. It's also a piece of pure cinema in that sound and images are used in the most simplest of ways to generate a strong reaction from the audience.
It's not a comfortable experience but it's certainly an interesting and memorable one.
Approach with caution and patience.
HANDICAPPED FUTURE
Handicapped Future is a look at the state of government run disabled care in Munich circa 1971. It starts off up-close and personal by interviewing young children about their physical disabilities, slowly pulling out to their carers, then their family and then the world at large. It's a respectful technique and avoids treating its subjects as objects who are devoid of their own opinions. Unfortunately, some of the adult carers, whether state or parental, aren't so mindful. I don't know if it was a choice by the director or whether it's the culture in these institutions in general but they seemed happy to talk about the children in front of the children, sometimes as if they weren't there.
The most disturbing scene comes when a mother talks only about her young son's disability in relation to how it affects her. His quality of life seems to be lowering due to her own social anxieties which I think may be due to an undiagnosed mental health disorder on her part rather than a reaction to real events. You feel concerned for this boy who's emotional and social development could end up being stunted by his mothers' own personal hang-ups.
I wonder how he turned out.
Towards the end of the documentary the film jumps to California and shows us the life of a wheelchair-bound college professor who moved there from Germany and has an incredibly positive quality of life. His disability has not been cured but the adaptations he has at his disposal means that he is able to achieve and be a confident, functioning member of society without pity or segregation.
There was an unintentional link between this film and Fata Morgana in that the professor talks about how much he hated the old buildings where he used to live which were inaccessible for him and other disabled patrons. He appreciates modernity and the adaptation of environments that are easier for him to navigate and live with. In Fata Morgana we see the detritus of modernity - carcasses of machines, smoke and flame billowing factories, upturned cars, sheet metal housing. It's ugly and we long for bricks and mortar; we long for craftsmanship and artistry. But in Handicapped Future we appreciate how this can hinder a large portion of our society.
The point of the documentary seems to be to highlight the contrast in healthcare and to show Germany and any other country watching how it could and perhaps should be done.
As someone with a sensory impairment disability I can see the good the film is trying to accomplish, but the quality of life for a disabled person can also be down to their own outlook on life and their ingrained personality. If you have confidence, drive and a fighting spirit then you can overcome social prejudice and achieve what you would have achieved anyway without your disability; if you're shy and passive you can live an independent life of modest means and indulge in your hobbies and enjoy the simple things in life; if you're dependant and enjoy being mothered then there are plenty of carers out there paid and/or willing to be there for you. Many disabilities can't be cured but they can be overcome, but the most important ingredient is the will of the person who is disabled.
I'm not terribly sure Handicapped Future takes that into account, but it's vision and goal is to at least fight for the groundwork to be firm enough for disabled people to become independent and successful if that's what they so choose.
The choice, however, should always be theirs.
NEXT UP: LAST WORDS, AGUIRRE THE WRATH OF GOD and LAND OF SILENCE AND DARKNESS
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