LIBERAL ARTS IN WEIMAR BERLIN - art before Hitler - the first German sound film in general release was MELODIE DER WELT (1929). On March 12, 1929, the first feature-length talking picture made in Germany had its premiere. The inaugural Tobis Filmkunst production, it was not a drama, but a documentary sponsored by a shipping line: Melodie der Welt (Melody of the World), directed by the communist Walter Ruttmann. It is incredible to think that this outstandingly liberal filmic celebration of the diversity of the worlds cultures was made just four years before the rise of Hitler! This was also perhaps the first feature film anywhere to significantly explore the artistic possibilities of joining the motion picture with recorded sound. As described by scholar William Moritz, the movie is intricate, dynamic, fast-paced ... juxtapos[ing] similar cultural habits from countries around the world, with a superb orchestral score ... and many synchronized sound effects. Composer Lou Lichtveld was among a number of contemporary artists struck by the film: Melodie der Welt became the first important sound documentary, the first in which musical and unmusical sounds were composed into a single unit and in which image and sound are controlled by one and the same impulse. youtube/watch?v=2kLt2dfHBsw
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 04:34:11 +0000
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