In 1968 in Munich, Edgar Reitz, soon to be the director of the film epic Heimat went to a girls high school and taught a class in film aesthetics. 55 years later he is approached by one of his students. The decide to have a class reunion.
Made up of the documentary that was made about the class, the films made by the girls and footage of the reunion, this is glorious documentary exploring what film is and how it can change people's lives.
This is a great film. While I suspect that some non-hardcore film fans might have a problem with it, I think most people who love or like film and have any sort of interest in it beyond just vegetating in front of a screen are going to fall in love with it. I say this because what the film does is it explores films and filmmaking. Over the course of it's run time it explains how films made and how knowing that changes how you view films. Watching the film I had numerous "ah ha" moments as things I had been thinking about, especially in today's world where over analyzing films is cottage industry on line and You Tube.
This maybe better for a film student then several years at a film school. Seriously outside of the technical bits about making a film, anything you are going to learn about anything else is going to be here. It's so good that I wish I had seen this rather than many of the film classes I took in college.
And don't think the film is in anyway dry, it isn't. This is a film about people and how they react to film. We learn to love the ladies and their younger selves. We also get to love Reitz, who proves himself to be the best teacher of film I've ever run across.
I came out of the film smiling and with a new appreciation for something I have spent much of my life exploring. This is one of the best films on film I have ever seen.
Highly recommended
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