Film Review by Sergio Martinez
Anselm-Le bruit du temps (Anselm-The Sound of Time), Wim
Wenders' recent film released in Montreal, is a documentary about Anselm
Kiefer, a German artist who is somewhat difficult to categorize. At the
beginning of the film, we see him engaged in burning the surface of panels to
present an image that defies definition. Is it a commentary on the destruction
that dominated the post-war German landscape, the period in which the filmmaker
and the artist who is the subject of the documentary grew up? It can be said
that these postwar images greatly shape Anselm's work. We see that both his
paintings and his female sculptures seem to be deliberately missing parts, such
as the half-ruined buildings in the devastated post-war German cities.
The opening scene
If cataloguing Anselm Kiefer's art is difficult, Wender
admits that so is a film about the artist. "Have we really made a
documentary?" he asks. He then alludes to other projects such as Pina or
Buenavista Social Club, films in which the same question could also be asked.
Later in his presentation of the film, Wender tries to elucidate this doubt,
after affirming that it is indeed a documentary because of the elements and the
form that the film has, he adds: "Yes, that is what is done in a
documentary. But we also invent scenes from Anselm's childhood and immerse
ourselves in his story. In doing so, we blur the boundaries between past and
present. We took this freedom because, in the face of art, you have to assert
your own freedom, otherwise, you don't participate in the transcendence before
us."
In his workshop
For those who have not had much background on Anselm
Kiefer's work, Wender's documentary will introduce them to his world in
multiple ways and messages. In this sense, the German filmmaker performs a
rescue task, as he did before with the old Cuban performers of Buenavista
Social Club, bringing his art to a more massive audience.
As for the references to Anselm's childhood and the images
of war-torn Germany, they provide a very effective element to place the viewer
in the context of the artist's work. At
one point Kiefer says, "Childhood is an empty space, like the beginning of
the world." In these forays into
the past, Wender's intention seems to be to engage in a shared investigation
between the artist and the viewers who are discovering his work.
Strange sculptures
This is a documentary film that, pleasantly, provides a
quite deep vision of Anselm Kiefer's art. Recommended especially for those
interested in modern art.
Running time: 93 min.
