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BETTY FALKENBERG
One of the most insistent themes - the senselessness (yes and no)
of the notion of artistic perfection in the face of world misery - is inter–
woven with another, the question posed by Adorno, whether, after
Auschwitz, a poem is possible.
But a list of the themes, like a summary of the plot, or an enumera–
tion of the techniques employed, is like a list of ingredients, a recipe.
What counts is the taste on the tongue, and that can't be had in words.
The movie's triumph is that it is a magnificent statement that there
can be no statement. When, at the very beginning of the movie, Man–
fred Peickert suggests - why not get the elephants up into the circus
dome? - the director retorts, "That is irrational." "Yes," says Peickert,
smiling weirdly, "but it would be a great feeling."
Art, sex, flying to the moon, the futility of the elephants turning
on their tiny stools - what does it all mean, and how is it all going to
end? Artisten in der Zirkus Kuppel: Ratios....
