Mendelsohn's Incessant Visions

Mendelsohn's Incessant Visions
Directed by Duki Dror
Release dates
  • July 2011 (2011-07)
Running time
 71 minutes
Country Israel
Language English

Mendelsohn's Incessant Visions is a 2011 documentary film directed by Duki Dror. The film takes as its focus the German-Jewish architect Erich Mendelsohn, exposing the complexities and intricacies of Mendelsohn's life and work through a series of letters with Louise, the young cellist who would eventually become his wife. Dror's film is at once an examination of Mendelsohn's seminal architectural work as well as an exploration of the German-Jewish experience during and after World War II seen through Mendelsohn's journey from Germany to England, British Mandate Palestine and the US.

Synopsis

The film follows the trajectory of Mendelsohn's career, bringing to life the stories (and, in interviews with other architects and experts, the impact) of his many influential buildings such as the Einstein Tower observatory in Potsdam and the Universum (the modern day Schaubühne building), believed to be the first modern cinema in the world. Though Mendelsohn enjoyed the status of one of Germany's most important and successful architects, the outbreak of World War II led him to flee Germany.[1] Utilizing over 1,200 personal letters penned between Mendelsohn and the 16-year-old cellist Louise who would later become his wife, the film brings to life both the historical context in which Mendelsohn lived and worked as well as the architect's personal struggles and eccentricities. [2] The letters between Mendelsohn and Louise also serve to bring to life other famous characters of Mendelsohn's era, including the German poet and playwright Ernst Toller whose affair with Louise provides the film with additional drama.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "From Borscht Belt to Berlin at the New York Jewish Film Festival". Haaretz.
  2. ↑ "Twelve hundred letters from Erich Mendelsohn to his wife Louise form basis of fascinating new film about the famed architect". Haaretz.
  3. ↑ "Talking with the Past, Architect Erich Mendelsohn on Screen". GALO Magazine.


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