“Where a ‘Fragment’ Is More Suited to Be Filmed Than the Whole Play”: “Wozzeck” by Georg C. Klaren
Abstract
In December 1947 the world saw the first postwar German film adaptation of a literary work. That was Wozzeck directed by Georg C. Klaren, a film adaptation of a play by Georg Büchner. The choice of the 19th century drama, preserved only in fragments and incomplete scenes, is far from obvious and makes one think about a number of questions, starting with the process of film adaptation of fragmentary work of literature (how far could the director be faithful to the author and the original piece of literature, given its fragmentary and unfinished nature? did the fragmentary character of the play aid or hinder the process of adaptation?), and ending with the ambiguous message of Klaren’s film (what is the purpose of the numerous anachronisms present in the film? what was the point of showing an audience, still traumatised by war, a post-romantic drama?).
Keywords:
Georg C. Klaren, Georg Büchner, German cinemaReferences
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Authors
Anna R. Burzyńskakwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Jagiellonian University Poland
Adiunkt w Katedrze Teatru i Dramatu Wydziału Polonistyki Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego. Jej zainteresowania badawcze obejmują najnowszy teatr europejski oraz dramat polski i niemiecki od XIX w. po współczesność. Zajmuje się także krytyką teatralną. Od 2000 r. współredaguje „Didaskalia”. W latach 2004-2010 była recenzentką i publicystką „Tygodnika Powszechnego”. Opublikowała książki: Mechanika cudu (2005), The Classics and the Troublemakers (2008), Maska twarzy (2011).
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