This is a small, intense film based on Schoenberg’s opus of the same name with the subtitle “danger, fear, catastrophe”. It deals with emerging fascism and the persecution of Jews, as well as with their historical continuities.
Direction
Straub/Huillet's static frames demand you confront every image.
Sound
Schoenberg's score doesn't accompany—it accuses.

Director
Jean-Marie Straub
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Straub and Huillet were the most notoriously difficult couple in cinema history—firing crew mid-shoot and banning applause at premieres.
The 'catastrophe' in the title refers to both Jewish persecution and Schoenberg's own break from tonal music—equally traumatic ruptures.
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