The Assault of the Present on the Rest of Time

Abstract

We about the the19th it is consideredthe summit speak operaof century; (ThePowerofEmotiono),pe- Gefiihle ra was likened to a "power plant of emotions." The film Carmenby CarlosSaurahas shown thatsuch older forms of dramaticarttap certain currentsin spectators;this is something we did not know before. Bound up with our own century is another "power plant of emo- tions" - the cinema. Presumably, in the next century, beginning six- teen from now, we will call it thecinema the20th This art years of century. form is ninety years old - a love affairof the century.The cinema con- sists of screening rooms, movie palaces, theaters on the front-lines, as well as many other gathering places, wherever films are shown for money. It also consists of a series of fascinating technical inventions which, though very elementary compared with the capabilitiesof elec- tronics, all have to do with with the construction of a time machine. This cinema tells stories and it has produced artisticfigures Kunst- figurenand idols. Obviously, this medium intrigues me.