This 1970 experimental opus from composer-cum-director Mauricio Kagel (subtitled as "a report by" the filmmaker, and shot entirely in black-and-white) explores the subject of Ludwig von Beethoven in non-narrative, non-linear mode, breaking down the barriers between fiction and documentary to produce an essay film hybrid. Kagel first employs a string of dissociative images shot "from the vantage point" of Beethoven, with a first-person-perspective tour through his personal workspace, his cellar, his bathroom and his hayloft. ...
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This 1970 experimental opus from composer-cum-director Mauricio Kagel (subtitled as "a report by" the filmmaker, and shot entirely in black-and-white) explores the subject of Ludwig von Beethoven in non-narrative, non-linear mode, breaking down the barriers between fiction and documentary to produce an essay film hybrid. Kagel first employs a string of dissociative images shot "from the vantage point" of Beethoven, with a first-person-perspective tour through his personal workspace, his cellar, his bathroom and his hayloft. The picture then abandons this semblance of narrative and moves completely into free-form mode, with a satirical discussion about the composer and his compositions culled from television, and various riffs on the subjects of his psychological impact on listeners, the size of his cranium, his deafness, and the like. At one point, Kagel also conducts an extended interview with one of the great man's descendants. Nathan Southern, Rovi
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