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IMDbPro

Imperative

Original title: Imperativ
  • 19821982
  • 1h 36m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
148
YOUR RATING
Imperative (1982)
Drama
Augustin is a 30-year-old university professor. He does not believe in religion. His only belief is in maths, to which he devotes all his time. Then suddenly a series of pressing existential... Read allAugustin is a 30-year-old university professor. He does not believe in religion. His only belief is in maths, to which he devotes all his time. Then suddenly a series of pressing existential questions start looming in his mind.Augustin is a 30-year-old university professor. He does not believe in religion. His only belief is in maths, to which he devotes all his time. Then suddenly a series of pressing existential questions start looming in his mind.
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
148
YOUR RATING
    • Krzysztof Zanussi
    • Krzysztof Zanussi
  • Stars
    • Robert Powell
    • Brigitte Fossey
    • Sigfrit Steiner
    • Krzysztof Zanussi
    • Krzysztof Zanussi
  • Stars
    • Robert Powell
    • Brigitte Fossey
    • Sigfrit Steiner
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 2User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
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    Top cast

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    Robert Powell
    Robert Powell
    • Augustin
    Brigitte Fossey
    Brigitte Fossey
    • Yvonne
    Sigfrit Steiner
    Sigfrit Steiner
    • Professor
    Matthias Habich
    Matthias Habich
    • Theologist
    Jan Biczycki
    • Orthodox Priest
    Zbigniew Zapasiewicz
    Zbigniew Zapasiewicz
    • Psychiatrist
    Eugeniusz Priwieziencew
    Eugeniusz Priwieziencew
    • Madman
    Christoph Eichhorn
    Christoph Eichhorn
    • Student
    Hans-Jörg Frey
    • Professor
    • (as Hans-Joerg Frey)
    Leslie Caron
    Leslie Caron
    • Mother
      • Krzysztof Zanussi
      • Krzysztof Zanussi
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    User reviews2

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    6/10
    The search for truth on the wrong paths
    This movie connects with a previous Zanussi work, Illumination (1973). In the latter the protagonist is engaged in an unending quest for illumination, defined as "a revelation of truth beyond the senses." He looks for the ultimate truth along several paths; science, religion, relations with other people. In the end he does not succeed but the quest itself leads him to partial truths along the way.

    In this much darker film the protagonist Augustin is a math professor in a German university. He is not engaged in the search for universal truth but rather in the understanding of concepts such as free will and the existence of God. He tests these ideas in slightly mad ways; to assert his free will he performs totally unmotivated, unnecessary actions such as: he climbs down a pipe, half naked, from his bedroom window to the icy street below in the dead of winter. His idea (mercifully not implemented) of testing if God cares about his existence is to play Russian roulette. His relations with other people are almost nonexistent; he firmly rejects psychoanalysis communicates via tape recorder but not personally with an old professor, his teacher, and is directed by him to an Orthodox priest with whom it has a long conversation (and immediately betrays by vandalizing his church).

    He teaches Statistics at the university. His classroom is dimly lit, his students few and visibly bored. The board is full of formulas but we never see him writing one. He rambles about philosophy of mathematics such as: are sets a natural or artificial construct? Is mathematics invented or discovered? He lets one of his students devise and put in practice a way to win in roulette based on the false premise that a spin of the wheel depends on the result of previous spins (Incidentally no casino in the world would let anyone play roulette with a stack of computer paper full with numbers in front of him).

    He is finally interned in a rather run down mental institution. There he commits an act of self mutilation. At this point the movie switches from murky black-and-white to color and one hopes that this announces some sort of solution or at least a mitigation of Augustin's problems. Nothing like this; the last scene shows that his condition has not changed. The final impression of the movie is that of the examination of a diseased mind that looks for some kind of truth but infallibly takes the wrong path at each fork in the road. It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.
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    • hof-4
    • Aug 10, 2022

    Details

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    • Release date
      • March 29, 1985 (United States)
      • West Germany
      • English
      • Russian
      • German
    • Also known as
    • Production companies
      • Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR)
      • Telefilm Saar GmbH
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 36 minutes
      • Black and White
      • Color
      • Mono

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