Wird und (LFS00146)
Résumé
Contexte et analyse
This hybrid film by Ernst Niederreither mixes design forms such as documentary recordings, staged scenes, animation and graphics. This form has been widespread in German cultural film since the 1920s because it was about the efficient conveyance of information. After the end of the Second World War, "We and the Others" was an early example of promoting the idea of a European union. This is already evident from the close-ups of men's heads from around the world with which the film begins. A staged sequence follows with swing music. A man with a top hat and a 19th century carriage coat walks across a field and gets on a Swiss Air plane - the airline of a neutral country. It attracts attention in the machine and is really admired by a girl and other passengers. A voice-over asks if he is not mistaken in time. In his answer, he recalls the tranquility of living and traveling 100 years ago. In a visual montage of modern mobility, an animated excerpt from Anton Kutter’s “space ship I starts” (1940) is also installed. The nation states limit the possible acceleration. The tax collectors control sharply. A Kafkaesque scene with extreme lighting symbolizes the unnecessary, dusty bureaucracy. This makes the commentator think: “Our economy was only idle. And only an impetus from the outside got it going again. Oil for our machines came across the sea and new machines came for this oil ”. The commentary, backed by pictures of American economic aid when unloading in the port, criticized that some of the countries in Europe were behaving as if they had no neighbors. This is symbolically shown by a graphic in which the borders are high walls. But international life began to stir again in the early 1950s and communication was necessary for economic exchange. This explains an animation using the principle of communicating tubes. Trade enables the same standard of living in the countries. This is played out on various products. But the limits and tariffs hinder trade. The demand is that Europe should grow together, illustrated again by an animation. In the end, the man steps backwards from the beginning back to the 19th century.
The film was shown at the 2005 Berlinale as part of the retrospective “Selling Democrazy”. The director, cameraman and producer of the film Ernst Niederreither had started his career as a cameraman and director in the late 1930s and realized numerous films with his company Audax-Film in Munich until the mid-1960s; the production company was active even longer. “We and the Others” was commissioned by the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) as a so-called Marshall Plan film (MP). These films created the vision of a common market in Europe after the Second World War. The films paid for by the American government were propaganda and campaigned for a western-oriented and anti-communist Europe. Between 1948 and 1954, around 200 films were made in 17 countries. These productions must be viewed against the background of the reorganization of the European continent. Due to the emerging Cold War and the increasing polarization between West and East, for example, the workers first had to be convinced of the advantages of a capitalist-oriented economy. An important argument was that higher productivity could guarantee material security and higher wages. As a rule, European filmmakers who knew the Americans were commissioned to produce the films because they knew their audience better. In addition, the American influence on the films became less visible and they showed their trust in the local film scene. A total of fifteen Marshall Plan films were produced in France and nine in the Federal Republic.
An important aspect was the presentation of the advantages of European integration and the development of a common market based on the model of the United States. This growing together should also solve the problem with West Germany, whose growing economic power irritated neighboring countries. The Federal Republic was seen by the Americans as an engine of growth in Europe. The MP films were viewed by millions of viewers in different countries. According to the client's statistics, "We and the Others" was very successful: between July and September 1952, a total of 2.5 million West Germans saw him, who mostly rated the film positively. Because at that time, going to the cinema was one of the most important leisure activities. On average, every West German attended a cinemas about ten times a year; 15% of West Germans treated themselves to cinematic pleasure every week. That is why the film was the ideal medium to convey new political ideas to the public.
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