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Werner Herzog: solemn tone
Photo: Max Nikelski / dpa
A book: Warrior Forest Spirit
When his fate became known, "all hearts, the hearts of a whole nation, stood still for a full minute," says the book about the hero of this book.
The famous filmmaker
Werner Herzog
tells in the narrow volume "
The Twilight of the World
" (
Hanser, 128 pages, 19 euros
) the true story of the Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda. In the jungle of the Philippine island of Lubang, the officer Onoda (1922 to 2014) led the Second World War until 1974, initially with a few loyal followers - because he and his people refused to believe that the war was over. The senseless war of the soldier Onodas, which was committed to military terms of honor, cost the lives of innocent Filipino civilians, among others. The poetic eccentric Herzog is still enthusiastic about the mission of the strange man who turned into a kind of jungle forest spirit. Once the Duke even met the brave soldier Onoda personally after his surrender. Now, in a solemn tone, he describes this in Herzog films such as »Aguirre,Der Zorn Gottes ”(1972) and“ Fitzcarraldo ”(1982) recall the struggle for survival in the midst of snakes, mosquitoes, leeches and enemy fighters. And even if the author's fascination for the manic fulfillment of his warrior hero's duties may be morally questionable, he succeeds in creating a captivating, cheerful, pathetic portrait.
Wolfgang Höbel
A film essay: passion, subtly staged
Marina Tsvetaeva was
not known
for her patience
.
In this respect, it is questionable how the homage of the filmmaker
Bernhard Sallmann
would have affected the Russian poet.
Actress Judica Albrecht Zwetajewa's text “
About Germany
«To the early spring landscape of Dresden, a good 100 years after its creation. As a young woman, Zwetajewa had once been to the climatic health resort in Loschwitz near Dresden, a strange, exotic figure among health-conscious people wearing sandals. Zwetajewa was not only at home in the German language, in which she would later have a romantic correspondence with Rilke - she loved German culture, Heine, the myths from Undine to Loreley. And she defended the country against the "abominations" of politics during the First World War. Tsvetaeva's passionate tone can be found in this film essay (
"Über Deutschland") in selected cinemas from September 2nd
) in calculated contrast to the brittle and subtle staging.
The bitter punch line lies in the dating: 80 years ago, on August 31, 1941, the German admirer took her own life in Yelabuga, Tatar - her place of refuge from the Wehrmacht attack on her hometown Moscow.
Elke Schmitter
Jazz: immersion with feeling
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Musician Lassy
Photo: Tuukka Koski
This album is a little miracle. Tenor saxophonist
Timo Lassy
, 46, is one of the defining figures on the Finnish jazz scene. Since the noughties he has been setting a tone there that is deeply rooted in the jazz of the fifties and sixties, in bebop, soul jazz and bossa nova. At least that's how it was up to now: Lassy was a wonderful epigone. But he also has an ear for what is happening in today's jazz. The Finnish scene in particular has rejuvenated and changed in recent years, new sounds can be heard everywhere, the music has become freer. So Lassy has “
Trio
«Recorded, a masterpiece. Lassy himself plays as always, the saxophone is the jazz instrument that is closest to the human voice, it can whisper and hiss and scream. With Lassy it usually sounds like he's singing at the top of his head. But the formation in which he plays it is new: In addition to the bass and drums that accompany him, he has got strings. He gives the dry sound of the core group a soft emotionality that is quite rare in jazz today. For seven pieces, Lassy immerses himself in feeling where everyone becomes freer. Perhaps this is the greatest experiment.
Tobias Rapp