The Ister
Encyclopedia
The Ister is a 2004
film
directed by David Barison and Daniel Ross.
, published in 1984 as Hölderlins Hymne »Der Ister«. Heidegger's lecture course concerns a poem by the German poet Friedrich Hölderlin
about the Danube River.
The film The Ister travels upstream along the Danube toward its source
, as several interviewees discuss Heidegger, Hölderlin, and philosophy
. The film is also concerned with a number of other themes, including: time
, poetry
, technology
, home
, war
, politics
, myth, National Socialism, the Holocaust
, the ancient Greek polis
, Sophocles
, Antigone
, Agnes Bernauer
, Edmund Husserl
, the 1991 battle of Vukovar
, and the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
, Jean-Luc Nancy
, and Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe
, as well as with the German film director Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
. Other interviews are conducted with a bridge engineer (Nemanja Calic), an amateur botanist (Tobias Maier), and a Romanian archaeologist (Alexandru Suceveanu).
An extended interview with philosopher Werner Hamacher
is also included as one of the "extra features" on the DVD.
, opening onto the Black Sea
in Romania
, to the source of the river in the Black Forest
of southern Germany
, moving along the way through the Histria (Sinoe)
archaeological site, through Novi Sad
in Serbia
, Vukovar
in Croatia
, Budapest
, Dunaföldvár
, and Dunaújváros
in Hungary
, and Vienna
and the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
in Austria
. Also featured are the Walhalla temple
near Regensburg
, the Befreiungshalle
at Kelheim
, the tomb of Agnes Bernauer
, and the castle
at Sigmaringen
to which Marshal Pétain
fled in 1945.
Notable places from Heidegger's own life which feature in the film include his birthplace in Meßkirch
, his hut at Todtnauberg
, and the lecture theatre at Freiburg University where he delivered his infamous rectorate address.
Eventually the film arrives at Donaueschingen
, and at the Breg
and the Brigach
, the two tributaries whose confluence marks the point at which the river becomes known as the Danube. The film then travels upstream along the Breg, past Vöhrenbach
and Furtwangen, in search of the "true" mountain source of the Danube.
on January 23, 2004. It has won two awards:
Additionally, Robert Koehler, film critic for Variety
, listed The Ister as the second best film released theatrically in the United States in 2006.
2004 in film
The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by David Barison and Daniel Ross.
Source
The Ister was inspired by a 1942 lecture course delivered by the German philosopher Martin HeideggerMartin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
, published in 1984 as Hölderlins Hymne »Der Ister«. Heidegger's lecture course concerns a poem by the German poet Friedrich Hölderlin
Friedrich Hölderlin
Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin was a major German lyric poet, commonly associated with the artistic movement known as Romanticism. Hölderlin was also an important thinker in the development of German Idealism, particularly his early association with and philosophical influence on his...
about the Danube River.
The film The Ister travels upstream along the Danube toward its source
Source (river or stream)
The source or headwaters of a river or stream is the place from which the water in the river or stream originates.-Definition:There is no universally agreed upon definition for determining a stream's source...
, as several interviewees discuss Heidegger, Hölderlin, and philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
. The film is also concerned with a number of other themes, including: time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
, poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, home
Home
A home is a place of residence or refuge. When it refers to a building, it is usually a place in which an individual or a family can rest and store personal property. Most modern-day households contain sanitary facilities and a means of preparing food. Animals have their own homes as well, either...
, war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
, politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, myth, National Socialism, the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
, the ancient Greek polis
Polis
Polis , plural poleis , literally means city in Greek. It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state."The...
, Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
, Antigone
Antigone (Sophocles)
Antigone is a tragedy by Sophocles written in or before 442 BC. Chronologically, it is the third of the three Theban plays but was written first...
, Agnes Bernauer
Agnes Bernauer
Agnes Bernauer was the mistress and perhaps also the first wife of Albert, later Albert III, Duke of Bavaria...
, Edmund Husserl
Edmund Husserl
Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl was a philosopher and mathematician and the founder of the 20th century philosophical school of phenomenology. He broke with the positivist orientation of the science and philosophy of his day, yet he elaborated critiques of historicism and of psychologism in logic...
, the 1991 battle of Vukovar
Battle of Vukovar
The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People's Army , supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991. Before the Croatian War of Independence the Baroque town was a prosperous, mixed community of Croats,...
, and the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
Interviewees
The Ister features extensive interviews with the French philosophers Bernard StieglerBernard Stiegler
Bernard Stiegler is a French philosopher at Goldsmiths, University of London and at the Université de Technologie de Compiègne. In addition, he is Director of the , founder in 2005 of the political and cultural group, , and founder in 2010 of the philosophy school,...
, Jean-Luc Nancy
Jean-Luc Nancy
Jean-Luc Nancy is a French philosopher.Nancy's first book, published in 1973, was Le titre de la lettre , a reading of the work of French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, written in collaboration with Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe...
, and Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe
Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe
Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe was a French philosopher. He was also a literary critic and translator....
, as well as with the German film director Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
Hans-Jürgen Syberberg is a German film director, whose best known film is his lengthy feature, Hitler: A Film from Germany.- Early life :...
. Other interviews are conducted with a bridge engineer (Nemanja Calic), an amateur botanist (Tobias Maier), and a Romanian archaeologist (Alexandru Suceveanu).
An extended interview with philosopher Werner Hamacher
Werner Hamacher
Werner Hamacher is a German literary critic and theorist influenced by deconstruction. Hamacher studied philosophy, comparative literature and religious studies at the Free University of Berlin and the École Normale Supérieure , where he got in touch with Jacques Derrida...
is also included as one of the "extra features" on the DVD.
Locations
The film travels upriver: from the Danube DeltaDanube Delta
The Danube Delta is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. The greater part of the Danube Delta lies in Romania , while its northern part, on the left bank of the Chilia arm, is situated in Ukraine . The approximate surface is...
, opening onto the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, to the source of the river in the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
of southern Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, moving along the way through the Histria (Sinoe)
Histria (Sinoe)
Ancient Histria or Istros , was a Greek colony or polis on the Black Sea coast, established by Milesian settlers to trade with the native Getae. It became the first Greek town on the present day Romanian territory. Scymnus of Chios , the Greek geographer and poet, dated it to 630 BC...
archaeological site, through Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Vukovar
Vukovar
Vukovar is a city in eastern Croatia, and the biggest river port in Croatia located at the confluence of the Vuka river and the Danube. Vukovar is the center of the Vukovar-Syrmia County...
in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Dunaföldvár
Dunaföldvár
Dunaföldvár is a town in Tolna County, Hungary.- External links :*...
, and Dunaújváros
Dunaújváros
Dunaújváros is a Hungarian city in Central Transdanubia, along the Danube river. It is in Fejér county.-History:Dunaújváros is one of the newest cities of the country...
in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. Also featured are the Walhalla temple
Walhalla temple
The Walhalla temple is a hall of fame that honors laudable and distinguished Germans, famous personalities in German history — politicians, sovereigns, scientists and artists of the German tongue". The hall is housed in a neo-classical building above the Danube River, east of Regensburg, in...
near Regensburg
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
, the Befreiungshalle
Befreiungshalle
The Befreiungshalle is a historical classical monument upon Mount Michelsberg above the city of Kelheim in Bavaria, Germany. It stands upstream of Regensburg on the river Danube at the confluence of the Danube and the Altmühl, i.e...
at Kelheim
Kelheim
Kelheim is a municipality in Bavaria, capital of the district Kelheim. It is situated at the confluence of Altmühl and Danube. As of June 30, 2005, the town had a population of 15,667....
, the tomb of Agnes Bernauer
Agnes Bernauer
Agnes Bernauer was the mistress and perhaps also the first wife of Albert, later Albert III, Duke of Bavaria...
, and the castle
Schloss Sigmaringen
Sigmaringen Castle was the princely castle and seat of government for the Princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. Situated in the Swabian Alb region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, this castle dominates the skyline of the town of Sigmaringen...
at Sigmaringen
Sigmaringen
Sigmaringen is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district....
to which Marshal Pétain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
fled in 1945.
Notable places from Heidegger's own life which feature in the film include his birthplace in Meßkirch
Meßkirch
Meßkirch is a town in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.Meßkirch was the residence of the counts of Zimmern, widely known through Count Froben Christoph's Zimmern Chronicle ....
, his hut at Todtnauberg
Todtnauberg
Todtnauberg is a German village in Black Forest belonging to the municipality of Todtnau, in Baden-Württemberg. It is named after the homonym mount and is famous because it was the place where the German philosopher Martin Heidegger had a chalet.-Geography:The village is located at amsl, in...
, and the lecture theatre at Freiburg University where he delivered his infamous rectorate address.
Eventually the film arrives at Donaueschingen
Donaueschingen
Donaueschingen is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar Kreis. It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Danube ....
, and at the Breg
Breg River
The Breg is a river in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the right-side and longer of the two streams that form the river Danube. It begins at 1078 m above sea level in the Black Forest, near Furtwangen im Schwarzwald, 100 m from the European Watershed. It flows through Furtwangen and Vöhrenbach...
and the Brigach
Brigach
The Brigach is the shorter of two streams that jointly form the river Danube in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The Brigach has its source at 925 metres above sea level within St. Georgen in the Black Forest. The Brigach crosses the city Villingen-Schwenningen. After 43 km from the source, Brigach...
, the two tributaries whose confluence marks the point at which the river becomes known as the Danube. The film then travels upstream along the Breg, past Vöhrenbach
Vöhrenbach
Vöhrenbach is a town in the district of Schwarzwald-Baar, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the Breg River, 12 km west of Villingen-Schwenningen....
and Furtwangen, in search of the "true" mountain source of the Danube.
Structure
The Ister is divided into five chapters, plus a prologue and epilogue:- Prologue. The myth of Prometheus, or The birth of technics. Bernard Stiegler tells the myth of Prometheus.
- Chapter 1. Now come fire! "In which the philosopher Bernard Stiegler conjugates technology and time, and guides us from the mouth of the Danube to the city of Vukovar in Croatia."
- Chapter 2. Here we wish to build. "In which the philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy takes up the question of politics and guides us through the Republic of Hungary."
- Chapter 3. When the trial has passed. "In which philosopher Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe conducts us from the technopolis of Vienna to the depths of the concentration camp at Mauthausen, confronting Heidegger's most provocative statement concerning technology."
- Chapter 4. The rock has need of cuts. "In which philosopher Bernard Stiegler returns to guide us deeper into the questions of mortality and history, as we emerge from Mauthausen to the Hall of Liberation in Germany."
- Chapter 5. What that river does, no-one knows. "In which the German artist and director Hans-Jürgen Syberberg guides us through the upper Danube, to the source of the river and beyond."
- Epilogue. Heidegger reads Hölderlin. Heidegger reads Hölderlin's hymn, "Der Ister."
Premiere and awards
The Ister premiered at the International Film Festival RotterdamInternational Film Festival Rotterdam
The International Film Festival Rotterdam is an annual film festival held in various cinemas in Rotterdam, Netherlands held at the end of January. It is approximately comparable in size to other major European festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Locarno...
on January 23, 2004. It has won two awards:
- The Prix du Groupement National des Cinémas de Recherche (GNCR) at the Festival International du Documentaire de MarseilleMarseille Festival of Documentary FilmMarseille International Festival of Documentary Film is a documentary film festival held yearly since 1989 in Marseille, France. The festival awards grand prizes in international and national categories...
(August 2004). - The Prix de l’AQCC (Association Québécoise des Critiques/Quebec Association of Film Critics) at the Festival du Nouveau CinémaFestival du Nouveau CinémaThe Festival du Nouveau Cinéma was known as the Montreal Festival of New Cinema and New Media until 2004. Founded in 1971, by Claude Chamberlan and Dimitri Eipides, it is an annual independent film festival held in Montreal and features independent films from around the world...
in MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
(October 2004).
Additionally, Robert Koehler, film critic for Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, listed The Ister as the second best film released theatrically in the United States in 2006.
Reviews
- Coloring Outside the Lines, by Michael Atkinson
- The Ister: Between the Documentary and Heidegger’s Lecture Course Politics, Geographies, and Rivers, by Babette Babich
- A River Runs Through It, by Daniel Birnbaum
- Draggin' the River, by Carloss James Chamberlin
- The Ister, by Chris Chang, Film CommentFilm CommentFilm Comment is an arts and culture magazine published by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, of which it is the official publication. Film Comment features critical reviews and in-depth analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world...
, vol. 46, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 2010), p. 82. - Killing the Gatekeeper, by Matthew Clayfield
- The Duck and the Philosopher: Rhythms of Editing and Thinking between Bernard Stiegler and The Ister, by Patrick Crogan
- The Ister, by Cheryl Danieri-Ratcliffe
- The Ister, by Tom Dawson
- Heidegger, Technology and Time: Review of the Film The Ister, by Matthew Del Nevo
- "The Ister," reviewed by Roy Elveton, German Studies Review 29 (2006): 480–481.
- The Ister, by Gareth Evans
- The Ister: Search for the Source, by Hamish Ford
- The Ister, by Scott Foundas
- The Ister, by Philip FrenchPhilip FrenchPhilip French is a British film critic and former radio producer.French, the son of an insurance salesman, was educated at the direct grant Bristol Grammar School, read Law at Oxford University. and post graduate study in Journalism at Indiana University, Bloomington on a scholarship.He has been...
- Flow of Rich Philosophy, by Philippa Hawker
- The Ister, by Philippa Hawker
- The Ister, by Eric Henderson
- Mystic River, by J. HobermanJ. HobermanJames Lewis Hoberman , also known as J. Hoberman, is an American film critic. He is currently the senior film critic for The Village Voice, a post he has held since 1988.-Education:...
- Philosophers on Celluloid: Sartre, Beauvoir, Heidegger, and the French Heideggerians, by Jonathan Judaken
- Time and Tide (and Torrents of Discourse), by Peter Kemp
- Incisions on the Rock, by Adam Kirsch
- The Nonbiodegradable, by Dragan Kujundzic
- A Journey Up the Danube, Philosophy Included, by Nathan Lee
- The Ister, by Adrian MartinAdrian MartinDr. Adrian Martin is an Australian film and arts critic from Melbourne. Dr. Martin is Associate Professor, Co-Director of the Research Unit in Film Culture and Theory and Head of Film and Television Studies at Monash University...
- The Ister, by John McMurtrieJohn McMurtrieJohn McMurtrie is a British music photographer. He is well known for his striking portraits of musicians usually in the heavy rock arena. He regularly shoots covers for Metal Hammer magazine and Total Guitar magazine and also contributes to Rolling Stone and Q magazine .He is the official...
- Time and the River (and Heidegger), by Peter Monaghan
- The Ister, by Deborah Nichols
- From Scardanelli to Orfée, by Scott Nygren
- L’homme sans qualités, by Gaël Pasquier
- The Camera in the Water Closet, by Dominic Pettman
- The Ister, by Jonathan RosenbaumJonathan RosenbaumJonathan Rosenbaum is an American film critic. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for the Chicago Reader from 1987 until 2008, when he retired at the age of 65...
- The Ister, by Jamie Russell
- Against the Stream: Remarks on the Film The Ister, by Galili Shahar
- The Ister, by Michael Sicinski
- In Search of Heidegger, by Ruth Starkman
- The Ister, by James van Maanen
- “He Appears, However, Almost to Go Backwards”: Impossibly Short Notes on The Ister, by Mike Wood
External links
- Official site: www.theister.com
- The Ister at Icarus Films
- The Ister: An Excerpt
- The Ister at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...