Brutality in Stone

Brutality in Stone (German: Brutalität in Stein) is a 1961 German documentary film directed by Alexander Kluge and Peter Schamoni. Produced at a time when German cinema preferred to forget the nation's Nazi past, the black and white film recalls the speeches and rallies of Adolf Hitler in a largely motionless setting.[1][2]

Brutality in Stone
Directed byAlexander Kluge
Peter Schamoni
Written byAlexander Kluge
Peter Schamoni
StarringHans Clarin
Christian Marschall
Release date
  • February 8, 1961 (1961-02-08)
Running time
12 minutes
CountryWest Germany
LanguageGerman

Background

Visually, the film focuses on the architecture of the ruined Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg. The film draws connection between the design of these structures and the ideology of National Socialism. Repetitive motifs, such as pillars and sharp corners, have particular visual prominence in the film.[3] Art historian Hans-Ernst Mittig refers to the combative angles and lockstep orderliness of the structures as "architectural militarism" (German: architektonischer Militarismus),[4] which reverberates in the film's audio of cheering crowds at Hitler's rallies.

Brutality in Stone premiered at what is now known as the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen in 1961 as an inaugural film of a "new generation" of German cinema.[5]

References
  1. Rentschler, Eric (1990). "Remembering Not to Forget: A Retrospective Reading of Kluge's Brutality in Stone". New German Critique (49): 23–41. doi:10.2307/488372. JSTOR 488372.
  2. "BRUTALITY IN STONE (Alexander Kluge, Peter Schamoni, 1961)". Dennis Grunes. 2010-05-31. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  3. Müller-Klug, Florian. ""Brutalität in Stein" - Der Zusammenhang von Architektur und Ideologie des Nationalsozialismus in einem Film von Alexander Kluge und Peter Schamoni". clioberlin.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  4. Mittig, Hans-Ernst (1998): NS-Stil als Machtmittel, in: Schneider, Romana / Wang, Wilfried (Hg.), Moderne Architektur in Deutschland 1900 bis 2000. Macht und Monument, Ostfildern-Ruit, S. 101-116.
  5. "Brutalität in Stein". IFFR. 2015-09-04. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
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