Poem: I Set My Foot Upon the Air and It Carried Me (2003) User Reviews

indeed: he put his foot into air, and it bore

[JW-30 · 9/10 · 11 May 2003]

A series of poems, from different (famous) authors and about different topics, with no inner connection except they are poems. And pictures NOT to match, but rather to extend - most unexpected, but fitting the poems nevertheless. Weird little scenes; I will not give examples, because it takes away the wonder. Some of these scenes I liked a lot; others were just too strong and distracted from the words. But all in all, it is very good, and I'll go and see it a second time.

Sorry, it is hard to write about german language poetry in english. I should stop here.

Just this: you need an open mind, love of poetry (or of strange things), and time. Then you will enjoy this film. And no, you don't need to know anything beforehand.

Incredibly strong movie

[hareck · 10/10 · 21 December 2003]

You have to watch this film, if you

• like (German) poetry. As the title says, "Poems" is about poems, about 9 or 10 of them, each of which is the heart of an episode of the film. And these are amazing poems.

• like movies. The episodes are extremely well directed, they vary from being quite minimalistic, like just some impressive actor reciting the particular poem, to absolutely hilarious, even outrageous scenes which still fit well to the poems. Cinematic art to the highest extent, excellent soundtrack.

• started thinking seriously about life. This film explores the dephts of our being, life, death, aspirations, motivations, and does it in an extremely powerful way, without ever becoming cheesy or overly intellectual. The means are always fully justified by the end (again: the poems).

• are alive at all. I cannot imagine anyone to be left cold by this movie. If you are open- and somewhat brave-hearted, artistically and philosophically interested, you'll probably love it, otherwise you're going to hate it, but afterwards you will know why.

Well, what more to say? I can't remember being moved like that by a film for years, sitting 90 minutes on the edge of my seat and shivering (and usually I'm not the overexalted type). 10 out of 10.

(SPOILER ahead)........and when you think it's over, far from it...(-;

A tribute to German poetry

[jeannine-simon-1 · 10/10 · 17 June 2009]

A "must-have" for everybody interested in German poetry! Schmerberg's film is a plea for the renaissance of German poetry. He visualizes classical texts in 19 brilliant short films in which famous German-speaking actors such as K.M. Brandauer, Hermann v. Veen, David Bennent and Meret Becker recite the poems. Viewers will feel inspired and enthusiastic about poetry after seeing this visionary film. The modernity of the clips can revive classical poetry especially in the eyes of a young target audience! "Poem" includes clips of works by e.g. Hermann Hesse, Claire Goll, Ernst Jandl, Heiner Müller, J.W. von Goethe, Mascha Kaléko, Ingeborg Bachmann, Kurt Tucholsky, Heinrich Heine, Paul Celan.