Biography

Also:   Screenwriter, producer, author

Education:     University of Freiburg; University of Frankfurt; University of Marburg

Kluge is the "godfather" of New German Cinema. As one of the originators (some say the driving force) of the 1962 Oberhausen Manifesto, Kluge urged young filmmakers to rebel against the moribund German film establishment. Originally trained as a lawyer, he has written widely about aesthetic theory, film and economics, and as head of the Institut für Filmgestaltung in Ulm, he shaped the talents and consciousness of Wim Wenders and Edgar Reitz, among others. His own films, marked by an acerbic wit, satirize political incongruities through avant-garde editing and narrative techniques.

Kluge's first feature, YESTERDAY GIRL (1966)/ABSCHIED VON GESTERN, took eight prizes at the 1966 Venice Film Festival, alerting the world of the imminent revival of the German cinema. The film observes the forces that shape Anita G., a larcenous young lady who's unlucky in love. Many of Kluge's most amusing characters are women facing a repressive sexist society, as with OCCASSIONAL WORK OF A FEMALE SLAVE (1974) / GELEGENHEITSARBEIT EINER SKLAVIN, in which a girl sells sausages wrapped in political manifestos to workers. Kluge's films often stress the continuum between Germany's past and its present, illustrating the pitfalls of its abiding twin obsessions: materialism and militarism.

Kluge's films are not easily understood by American audiences, even though they often deal with Germany's dependency on America, such as in WILLI TOBLER AND THE DECLINE OF THE SIXTH FLEET (1970). His exceedingly specific political satire can parody Marxism as well as capitalism but mystifies most viewers.

In Kluge's view, institutions retreat into their own authority until they cease to serve the purposes for which they were created. His outrage extends even to those who tolerate mediocrity and reinforce it from the bastions of their own institutional allegiances, as in THE PATRIOT (1979) and THE CANDIDATE (1980).

"Society does not serve human beings' needs," Kluge has stated, "but it is so nonaggressive that it does not stimulate a direct struggle." Thus, his villains are as ineffective as his heroes: for example, Ferdinand, the fascistic boob in STRONGMAN FERDINAND (1976). Kluge believes that by observing absurdity, human consciousness will aspire to rise above it, and to that end, his films have become increasingly absurdist, in a way that is not, however, inconsistent with German history. He has said, "I create historical characters in an ahistorical society."

Filmography

1960   BRUTALITÄT IN STEIN        producer, director, screenwriter

1961   RENNEN         producer, director

1963   LEHRER IM WANDEL  producer, director, screenwriter, editor

1963   PORTRÄT EINER BEWAHRUNG         director, screenwriter

1963   PROTOKOLL EINER REVOLUTION     producer, commentary, performer

1965   POKER-SPIEL  adaptation, commentary, performer

1965   UNENDLICHE FAHRT: ABER BEGRENZT       story

1966   YESTERDAY GIRL/ABSCHIED VON GESTERN         producer, director, screenwriter— from story "Attendance List For a Funeral," performer

1967   FRAU BLACKBURN, GEB. 5. JAN, 1872, WIRD GEFILMT     director, screenwriter, performer

1967   MAHLZEITEN  technical advisor— art

1968   DIE ARTISTEN IN DER ZIRKUSKUPPEL: RATLOS     director, screenwriter, performer

1968   FEUERLOSCHER E.A. WINTERSTEIN director, screenwriter

1970   EIN ARZT AUS HALBERSTADT        director, screenwriter

1970   WILLI TOBLER AND THE DECLINE OF THE 6TH FLEET/WILLI TOBLER UND DER UNTERGANG DER 6. FLOTTE         director, screenwriter

1971   DER GROSSE VERHAU          producer, director, screenwriter

1971   WIR VERBAUEN 3 X 27 MILLIARDEN DOLLAR IN EINEN ANGRIFFSSCHLACHTER   director, screenwriter

1973   BESITZBURGERIN, JAHRGANG 1908  director, screenwriter

1973   DIE REISE NACH WIEN        screenwriter

1974   OCCASSIONAL WORK OF A FEMALE SLAVE/GELEGENHEITSARBEIT EINER SKLAVIN      director, screenwriter

1975   IN GEFAHR GRÖSSTER NOT BRINGT DER MITTELWEG DEN TOD   director, screenwriter, art director

1976   STRONGMAN FERDINAND/DER STARKE FERDINAND          director, screenwriter, performer

1977   DIE MENSCHEN, DIE DIE STAUFER—AUSSTELLUNG VORBEREITEN         director, screenwriter

1977   NACHRICHTEN VON DER STAUFERN director, screenwriter

1977   ZU BÖSER SCHLACHT SCHLEICH' ICH HEUTE NACHT SO BANG    director, screenwriter

1978   GERMANY IN AUTUMN/DEUTSCHLAND IM HERBST director, production supervisor

1979   THE PATRIOT/DIE PATRIOTIN        producer, director, screenwriter, performer

1980   THE CANDIDATE/DER KANDIDAT     director, screenwriter

1982   WAR AND PEACE/KRIEG UND FRIEDEN       director, screenwriter, performer

1983   AUF DER SUCHE NACH EINER PRAKTISCH-REALISTISCHEN HALTUNG     director, screenwriter

1983   DIE MACHT DER GEFÜHLE    producer, director, screenwriter, performer

1985   DER ANGRIFF DER GEGENWART AUF DIE UBRIGE ZEIT     director, screenwriter

1986   VERMISCHTE NACHRICHTEN producer, director, screenwriter

1989   SCHWEINEGELD, EIN MÄRCHEN DER GEBRÜDER NIMM      producer