Artists Under the Big Top: Perplexed

Artists in the Big Top: Perplexed (German: Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos) is a 1968 West German film written and directed by Alexander Kluge. The film is made in a collage style, featuring newsreels and quotations from philosophers alongside the story of a failing circus whose owner, Leni (Hannelore Hoger), must decide whether her dream of a new kind of circus is too optimistic. The film is a symbolic representation of Kluge's own frustrations in trying to help stimulate the New German Cinema movement.[1]

Artists Under the Big Top: Perplexed
Film poster
Directed byAlexander Kluge
Written byAlexander Kluge
StarringHannelore Hoger
Release dates
  • September 1968 (1968-09) (Venice)
  • 29 October 1968 (1968-10-29)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryWest Germany
LanguageGerman

Cast

edit

Awards

edit

The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. The film was also selected as the West German entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 41st Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[2]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ David Bordwell and Kriston Thompson, Film History: An Introduction, 2e (McGraw Hill, 2003), p. 573.
  2. ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
edit