Sunday, September 26, 2004
Went to Vancouver on Friday to see The Ister.
Caught the local bus into the city, next to the freeway on ramp in the fog at 6:26 AM. Found the Greyhound barn, got directed to the station, got on the bus, and got off a couple of times to stretch my legs. Customs was painless thanks to empty buses-only lane. Got to Vancouver, oriented myself with print-out map and sun, and walked to theatre, with enough time to quaff an IPA in the pub on the corner.
The movie is a travelogue from the mouth of the Danube up to its source(s). Along the way there are short interviews with an archeologist excavating a Greek city in Romania, an engineer rebuilding bridges in Serbia, and a German ecologist studying the river habitat--lots of great footage of the river. Great natural scenery, industry and its detritus, Romanians celebrating their entry into NATO, Croatian massacre memorial, Stalinist ex-model city in Hungary, a concentration camp, various monuments, and finally Freiburg, Messkirch, and Todtnauberg. Through out the movie we have short bits of text from Hölderlin amd Heidegger, and discussion from Bernard Stiegler, Jean-Luc Nancy, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, and Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, filmed at their homes.
The discussions are on technology (by way of the myth of Prometheus and Epimetheus from Plato's Protagoras), being, Germany past and present, and much more. It was stimulating and though-provoking. My only complaint is that, like a live lecture, it goes by much to fast, and while I'm still trying to absorb something, it's on to the next theme. I look forward to the DVD, so that I can pause it and view it at my own pace. ¶ 9:52 PM
Caught the local bus into the city, next to the freeway on ramp in the fog at 6:26 AM. Found the Greyhound barn, got directed to the station, got on the bus, and got off a couple of times to stretch my legs. Customs was painless thanks to empty buses-only lane. Got to Vancouver, oriented myself with print-out map and sun, and walked to theatre, with enough time to quaff an IPA in the pub on the corner.
The movie is a travelogue from the mouth of the Danube up to its source(s). Along the way there are short interviews with an archeologist excavating a Greek city in Romania, an engineer rebuilding bridges in Serbia, and a German ecologist studying the river habitat--lots of great footage of the river. Great natural scenery, industry and its detritus, Romanians celebrating their entry into NATO, Croatian massacre memorial, Stalinist ex-model city in Hungary, a concentration camp, various monuments, and finally Freiburg, Messkirch, and Todtnauberg. Through out the movie we have short bits of text from Hölderlin amd Heidegger, and discussion from Bernard Stiegler, Jean-Luc Nancy, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, and Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, filmed at their homes.
The discussions are on technology (by way of the myth of Prometheus and Epimetheus from Plato's Protagoras), being, Germany past and present, and much more. It was stimulating and though-provoking. My only complaint is that, like a live lecture, it goes by much to fast, and while I'm still trying to absorb something, it's on to the next theme. I look forward to the DVD, so that I can pause it and view it at my own pace. ¶ 9:52 PM
