Vlado Kristl Der Damm / The Dam 1964, film still Courtesy Filmmuseum München
Vlado Kristl Der Damm / The Dam 1964, film still Courtesy Filmmuseum München
Vlado Kristl Der Damm / The Dam 1964, film still Courtesy Filmmuseum München
Two men, one fat and confident, the other a haggard outsider, compete for the favour of a woman. This classic love triangle is completely unhinged by Kristl in his first feature Der Damm / The Dam 1964. The soundtrack and images go their own separate ways, characters attempt to escape from the frame or appear fragmented in extreme close-up. The cast includes the porter of a Munich bar, a TV presenter, and Kristl himself. An idea was realised with minimal means, fulfilling the promise of the Oberhausen manifesto to produce a new cinema liberated from convention. Der Damm is a key early feature predating the emergence of New German Cinema / Neuer Deutscher Film later in the decade.
Der Damm will be preceded by extract from Edgar Reitz 1970 mock-television programme Kino Zwei made for the 75th anniversary of Cinema in which various figures make proposals for the future of film, including Kristl’s proposal for ‘traffic-jam’ cinema.
Kino Zwei
Edgar Reitz, West Germany 1970 [extract]
Der Damm / The Dam
Vlado Kristl, West Germany 1964, 35mm transfer to HD, black & white, 81 min
Vlado Kristl: Death to the Audience is realised with additional support from the Goethe-Institut London and in collaboration with the Munich Film Museum.