The Ister (2004)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Directors:

David Barison
Daniel Ross

Writers:

David Barison (writer)
Daniel Ross (writer)

Release Date:

24 September 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A 3000km journey up the Danube river to the heart of Europe.

Plot Keywords:

Danube | Heidegger | Holderlin | Jean Luc Nancy | Syberberg

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe	...	Himself
Jean-Luc Nancy	...	Himself
Bernard Stiegler	...	Himself
Hans-Jürgen Syberberg	...	Himself

Runtime:

189 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

French | German | Romanian | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Filming Locations:

Croatia

Company:

Black Box Sound and Image

Movie Connections:

References Hitler - ein Film aus Deutschland (1977)

philosophical

various french philosophers provide background commentary regarding the German philosopher Heidegger and Holderlein's poem "The Ister", which has something to do with the ancient Greek name for a portion of the Danube river. While the philosophers are commenting, we see images of the various portions of the river (in Romania, ex-Yugoslavia, Austria, etc), and images of the countries that it passes through. If my description sounds vague, it's because, as an average lay person, i found this movie very hard to understand, i could not follow 3 hours of philosophical expounding, in French no less. At least half the audience walked out of the film, probably feeling the same as me. I stuck it out, and enjoyed some of the imagery, and even some of the philosophy, but, the dialogue became so esoteric at points, that i found myself asking "is this for real?"!