History Lessons
En rachâchant
History Lessons (Geschichtsunterricht)
Directed by Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub. With Gottfried Bold, Henri Ludwigg, Johann Unterpertinger
Italy/West Germany 1972, DCP, color, 85 min. German with English subtitles
An extended shot from a car coursing through the streets of Rome in 1972—which is to say, the ancient Republic in ruins—sets the stage for Straub-Huillet’s complex interpretation of Brecht’s unfinished experimental novel The Business Affairs of Mr. Julius Caesar. The work explores history as it has been written by the victors, with their hero worship of tyrannical leaders (whether Caesar or Hitler), and offers an alternate view of history writing as fractured and potentially revolutionary. Caesar’s former slave and former banker are both featured, providing their own differing perspectives on the emperor’s career in the political, economic, and military life of ancient Rome.
En rachâchant
Directed by Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub. With Olivier Straub, Nadette Thinus, Bernard Thinus
France 1982, 35mm, b/w, 7 min. French with English subtitles
Beneath the subversive comedy of Marguerite Duras’ 1971 short story “Ah! Ernesto!,” about a precocious and determined nine-year-old boy, lies a terse and tough rejection of all forms of authority, whether family, school, or nation. En rachâchant was released in France on a double bill with Eric Rohmer’s Pauline at the Beach.
PROGRAM
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History Lessons (Geschichtsunterricht)
Directed by Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub.
With Gottfried Bold, Henri Ludwigg, Johann Unterpertinger.
Italy/West Germany, 1972, DCP, color, 85 min.
German with English subtitles.
DCP source: Miguel Abreu Gallery
An extended shot from a car coursing through the streets of Rome in 1972—which is to say, the ancient Republic in ruins—sets the stage for Straub-Huillet’s complex interpretation of Brecht’s unfinished experimental novel The Business Affairs of Mr. Julius Caesar. The work explores history as it has been written by the victors, with their hero worship of tyrannical leaders (whether Caesar or Hitler), and offers an alternate view of history writing as fractured and potentially revolutionary. Caesar’s former slave and former banker are both featured, providing their own differing perspectives on the emperor’s career in the political, economic, and military life of ancient Rome.
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En rachâchant
Directed by Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub.
With Olivier Straub, Nadette Thinus, Bernard Thinus.
France, 1982, 35mm, black & white, 7 min.
French with English subtitles.
Print source: Miguel Abreu Gallery
Beneath the subversive comedy of Marguerite Duras’ 1971 short story “Ah! Ernesto!,” about a precocious and determined nine-year-old boy, lies a terse and tough rejection of all forms of authority, whether family, school, or nation. En rachâchant was released in France on a double bill with Eric Rohmer’s Pauline at the Beach.
