The Power of Emotion

ThePowerofEmotionexplainsthatemotionisn'ttobeconfusedwithsentimentality.Emotionisancientandmorepowerfulthananyartform.Thefilmlooksatyoungcoupleswhorunintodifficultiesastheytrytotranslatetheirexperiencesofloveintocleardecision-making.Awomanwhohasshotherhusbandprovidesajudgewithapuzzle.Thosewholovecanbringthedeadbacktolifebymeansofco-operation.That'sthefocusoftheopera,&quot;ThePowerPlantofEmotions&quot;andthe&quot;Operaofthe20thCentury&quot;cinema.<br/>　　AlexanderKluge:ThePowerofFeeling<br/>　　WhenIstartedworkingonThePowerofFeeling,Iwasnotinarationalstate.Ididnotsay,IhaveasubjectandnowIwillmakeafilmaboutit.InsteadIwasspellboundandobservedinmydirectsurroundings,forexample,howfeelingsmove.Ihavenotreallydealtwiththethemeofmymother'sdeathandthefactthatshewastheonewhotaughtme&quot;howfeelingsmove.&quot;NorhaveIdealtwithhowshedied.Thatwasanentirepaletteoffeelings:&quot;Allfeelingsbelieveinahappyend,&quot;andeveryonebelievestacitlythattheywillliveforever:Theentirepaletteissomehowoptimistic,apositiveattitudetowardslifehavingbeenputontheagendaaslongasshewasyoung,aslongasherbodyheldout,fromonedaytothenextshecollapsed.Shejustsuddenlycollapsed,likeinanoperawheredisastertakesthestageinthefifthact.ItfeltasifIhadobservedanairraidoradisaster.<br/>　　ThefilmThePowerofFeelingisnotaboutfeelings,butrathertheirorganization:howtheycanbeorganizedbychance,throughoutsidefactors,murder,destiny;howtheyareorganized,howtheyencounterthefortunetheyareseeking.Whatisallthisorganizationoffeelingsabout?Generallyfeelingstendtobeadictatorship.Itisadictatorshipofthemoment.ThestrongfeelingIamhavingrightnowsuppressestheothers.Forthoughtsthiswouldnotbethecase.Onethoughtattractsotherslikeamagnet.Peoplethereforeneedaffirmationbyotherpeopletobesureabouttheirownfeelings(tocounteracttheacquisitionoftheirfeelingsthroughoutsideforces).Throughtheinteractionofmanypeople,forexample,inpublic,thevariousfeelingsalsohaveamagneticattractiontooneanotherjustlikethoughtsdo.Feelingscommunicatethroughtheirmanifestationinpublic.<br/>　　Thecinemaisthepublicseatoffeelingsinthe20thcentury.Theorganizationissetupthusly:Evensadfeelingshaveahappyoutcomeinthecinema.Itisaboutfindingcomfort:Inthe19thcenturytheoperahousewasthehometofeelings.Anoverwhelmingmajorityofoperashadatragicend.Youobservedavictim.<br/>　　Iamconvincedthatthereisamoreadventuresomecombination:Feelingsinboththeoperaandtraditionalcinemaarepowerlessinthefaceofdestiny'smight.Inthe20thcenturyfeelingsbarricadedthemselvesbehindthiscomfort,inthe19thcenturytheyentrenchedthemselvesinthevalidityofthelethalseriousness.