Klaus Kinski is still a name that arouses interest and emotions. His unusual looks, not unattractive, but with very sinister eyes, made him a perfect villain in many silly Edgar Wallace based thrillers made in Germany or some better parts in Spaghetti Western. In the seventies and eighties he got roles in more important films by respected directors. All this is the work he is most remembered by.
To this day most people don't know that he started his career by recording readings of world literature. In a time span of about four to five years he made 32 records. And he toured the country with his recitations. This work got very high praises and made him well known.
He would have done very well on stage too, but the film paid much better. His strange looks, expressive voice (well trained by the readings) and his cool attitude made him quickly famous. But this fame had its price. Soon his roles in film were mixed up with the person Kinski himself. Sure he had something to do with this. Being very sensitive and easy to hurt he was always ready to attack before he got attacked. The tabloids connected his behavior with his portraits of psychopathic killers and sold him as slightly crazy. It was easy to get him up the wall. This image stood in his way when he wanted to do serious work.
At the beginning of the seventies after doing an endless string of movies he wanted to pick up were he had left and start recitations again. Always being intrigued by great personalities he wrote thirty pages of text, mostly direct quotes from the New Testament, about Jesus Christ. He rented the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin, Germany, and had a full house with 5000 listeners. He was so full of hope that he would start a new chapter in his career that he had a team of cameramen to film bits of the recitation for further use.
But it was the time of the 68' generation, and Kinski had no part in their agenda. He was over 40 already and for them an old man. He did not know what was to happen on this evening.
Spoiler from here on:
Even before he delivered the first lines of text, insults were shouted and did not cease for the rest of the official performance. The insults were not aimed at the text but at Kinski and his life. Several times he stopped reciting and shouted back at the riff-raff, as he called them. He left the stage several times, swearing not to come back, but, unusually for him, he returned, starting from the beginning or picking up where he had stopped.
Watching and listening to this unusual and never before seen document is heartbreaking and aggravating at the same time. I was never a great admirer of Klaus Kinski, but here I did respect and feel with him, because, beside all his outbreaks at the attackers, you can clearly see, he wanted desperately to get his work done and finish his project. What happens to him here he had not deserved. The attackers are few, but they never stopped for long.
After several breaks Kinski called the evening off. Most people went home but about a hundred remained and for them he started from the very beginning and finally managed to finish without interruption at about two o' clock in the morning.
His reciting of the text is fantastic, the aggressive atmosphere only seems to fuel his expression, he often uses the phrases he quotes as a weapon against the agitators.
The director of this documentary had nothing to do with the filming, he was five years at that time. But he managed to puzzle together all the bits of film that were exposed and luckily could also get hold of the entire sound tape from the Deutschlandhalle, who had forgotten to close their microphones after the official event ended. Kinski never did anything with the material, so it is completely unknown. This film is a truly moving document of a great performer under unusual and very trying circumstances.
To this day most people don't know that he started his career by recording readings of world literature. In a time span of about four to five years he made 32 records. And he toured the country with his recitations. This work got very high praises and made him well known.
He would have done very well on stage too, but the film paid much better. His strange looks, expressive voice (well trained by the readings) and his cool attitude made him quickly famous. But this fame had its price. Soon his roles in film were mixed up with the person Kinski himself. Sure he had something to do with this. Being very sensitive and easy to hurt he was always ready to attack before he got attacked. The tabloids connected his behavior with his portraits of psychopathic killers and sold him as slightly crazy. It was easy to get him up the wall. This image stood in his way when he wanted to do serious work.
At the beginning of the seventies after doing an endless string of movies he wanted to pick up were he had left and start recitations again. Always being intrigued by great personalities he wrote thirty pages of text, mostly direct quotes from the New Testament, about Jesus Christ. He rented the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin, Germany, and had a full house with 5000 listeners. He was so full of hope that he would start a new chapter in his career that he had a team of cameramen to film bits of the recitation for further use.
But it was the time of the 68' generation, and Kinski had no part in their agenda. He was over 40 already and for them an old man. He did not know what was to happen on this evening.
Spoiler from here on:
Even before he delivered the first lines of text, insults were shouted and did not cease for the rest of the official performance. The insults were not aimed at the text but at Kinski and his life. Several times he stopped reciting and shouted back at the riff-raff, as he called them. He left the stage several times, swearing not to come back, but, unusually for him, he returned, starting from the beginning or picking up where he had stopped.
Watching and listening to this unusual and never before seen document is heartbreaking and aggravating at the same time. I was never a great admirer of Klaus Kinski, but here I did respect and feel with him, because, beside all his outbreaks at the attackers, you can clearly see, he wanted desperately to get his work done and finish his project. What happens to him here he had not deserved. The attackers are few, but they never stopped for long.
After several breaks Kinski called the evening off. Most people went home but about a hundred remained and for them he started from the very beginning and finally managed to finish without interruption at about two o' clock in the morning.
His reciting of the text is fantastic, the aggressive atmosphere only seems to fuel his expression, he often uses the phrases he quotes as a weapon against the agitators.
The director of this documentary had nothing to do with the filming, he was five years at that time. But he managed to puzzle together all the bits of film that were exposed and luckily could also get hold of the entire sound tape from the Deutschlandhalle, who had forgotten to close their microphones after the official event ended. Kinski never did anything with the material, so it is completely unknown. This film is a truly moving document of a great performer under unusual and very trying circumstances.
