GFF 2012: Weimarvellous Preview

Financial crises; opportunistic coalitions; European unity in peril; right-wing extremists banging on parliament’s doors. Despite these woes (or perhaps because of them), Weimar Germany had an opulent and flourishing cultural life. Is GFF trying to suggest a link with our own troubling times by packing a weekend full of it?

Probably not, but the Weimarvellous strand does give punters a chance to relive some of the hedonistic highs and portentous lows of the epoch. The Blue Angel, opening the weekend, is a melancholy tale of a school professor who falls for a cabaret star, bringing about his downfall. Emil Jannings’ shy and awkward mannerisms are humorous and Marlene Dietrich’s long legs and sultry glances erotic. But the film that brought both Dietrich and director Joseph von Sternberg to prominence is also a dark and foreboding commentary on society’s cracks and life’s cruelty. Janning’s professor descends into a nightmare of classism and sexual jealousy that reflects the period’s pessimistic outlook. No time to sit in a darkened room and contemplate the futility of existence afterwards though, as an evening of song and dance is included in the ticket price. A variety of burlesque-themed acts are followed by a karaoke singalong to Bob Fosse’s Cabaret, perhaps unleashing some of the film’s debauchery in festival goers.

For those who make it out of bed after the night’s excesses, Saturday brings a screening of Walter Ruttmann’s lyrical Berlin: Symphony of a Great City. Featuring live accompaniment by experimental jazz outfit Trio AAB, it portrays a day in the life of 1920s Berlin, from empty streets at sunrise through busy industrial throngs to the city’s buzzing nightlife. Ruttmann was one of Weimar cinema’s great experimenters and his impetus lives on in the work of sound and visual innovators Syncresis, who’ll be presenting their tribute to his work with Glasgow: Symphony of a Great City, created specially for GFF.

Things are rounded off with a work from another artistic pioneer of the era, Lotte Reiniger. The Adventures of Prince Achmed is thought to be the first feature-length animation ever made and uses the ancient Chinese art of shadow-play to retell a story from The Arabian Nights: a young prince finds his princess and must battle an evil sorcerer to win her hand. At the more magical and escapist end of Weimar fare, it’s a fitting way to ward off impending political doom.

Read our review of the Weimarvellous weekend.