m_mckechneay

this television series, produced in 1982 by state-owned studio defa, implies a weird allegory: the main characters are an undead couple, who 200 years ago ran a tavern on the very spot, where there's now a worker's living quarter, one of those typical concrete-block-buildings. to make up for their lifetime's fraudulent business-keeping the two have to do seven good deeds, leading the inhabitants back on the right track, supporting the community of the building in some way, etc. hiding behind walls, in kitchen sinks, taking cover behind plants and in cupboards, the two ghosts furtively watch people in their apartments. they notice how two wild kid-brothers get on the nerves of their single-mom and scare them into obedience. they lock two quarreling neighbors in the elevator, by this intervention forcing them to bury the hatchet. they produce a water-leakage to remind an overambitious plumber, that he has a family to attend to. by telling these stories in a light and humorous way, the series establishes sympathy for the "friendly spirits", who improve life in the house by their system of surveillance, "discipline and punishment". it's hard not to read these stories, that were originally intended for a young audience, as an allegory on the operations of the state security (stasi), who were also constantly keeping a watch out for conspicuous, possibly subversive activities in people's private- or business-life.

Although the movie's mood is much brighter than C.S. Lewis' book "The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe" - it's still not your average Disney-family adventure. For one thing the child actors actually look like people, not like surgically enhanced dolls (the actor of Peter actually really much resembles Englands Prince William...) - and they play pleasantly subtle. The decor of the world Narnia is not too fanciful and the lighting looks mostly natural. The CGI's are amazing: all the talking, running, flying animals - and especially the great lion Aslan - actually seem to have some weight at last. If it wasn't for the grand epic score that all too much resembles the "Lord of the Rings"- Trilogy, this would be a likable enough. But the score is over-persuasive all through the film. It doesn't allow you a second to take a breath, think for yourself and makes you feel strained out after the first half hour or so. A contradiction in itself: how the images work so hard on creating a whole different universe. And the soundtrack/score at the same time works so hard on making it sound like any other blockbuster of the season ...

Beautiful found-footage-composition by Viennese filmmaker Gustav Deutsch, who uses the movie-screen as a hypertext, diving into the tableaux of early cinema, linking images to other associated imagery. In it's course this work adds up to a reflection about everyday life and every day dreams (as staged in front of the static camera) at the turn of the century. By the way: Although the film shows up in the credits with a length of 30 min, this is not quite correct: "Welt Spiegel Kino" ("World Mirror Cinema") consists of three episodes, set in three different locations (one in Vienna/Austria, one in Porto/Portugal, one in Indonesia), and each of these episodes is 30 min long. The full film has a duration of 90 min. Anyhow - Gustav Deutsch sees his found footage-work as a work in progress, so there might well be an episode 4.- 6. sometime ...