造物的  奇迹

Wun
der der Schöpfung  is an

extraordinary, fascinating K
 ul
t u rfil m try ing to explain t
he whole   h  uman kno
wledge o  f the 1920s about t he w
or 
ld and the universe. 15 special
 effects experts and 9 camer amen were involved i n the 
 prod uction of this film wh ich combines d oc umentary  s cenes, histo
ric
al documents, fiction eleme
nts, animation scenes and educati onal imp act. It its 
beaut ifully colored,  usi n
g tinting and toning in a very
elaborated way. Som e visual ideas in the sequences with a spac e shuttle visiting different planets in the univers
e seem to ha v
e to  be the inspirati on for 
Stanley Kubrick 's 2001  A Space O dys

s ey.　　In
t h  e contex  t of Ge
rmany's Ku lturfilm phenomenon, W
 under der Schöpf
ung was among th e gr
eatest achiev eme
nts of 
the 1920s. The production was constructed, r

ehea
rs ed, 
and shot over a period o  f two a nd a h
alf years, u nder t h e supervision of Hanns Walter Ko

rnblum. The
idea to  descri  be the universe and m an's place in it we
ll suited UFA's Grossfilm men tality, one  year before the  Metropolis catastrophe. Hundreds of s k
 i

ll ed cra

ftsmen participated i n the project, building prop s
 and con
structing sc ale models drawn by 15 special effects draughtsm
en,  wh ile 9 cameramen in s eparate units worked
on the histori cal,   documentary, fiction, animation, and science-fict ion s equences. Without star roles or even pro t
agon 

ists, the f ilm's pl
ot i
s 
crowded wit
h me
ticulously structured and ski
 l lf  ully acted single  scenes  an artful mo s
aic of small vignettes. No les s than four cred ited uni versity  professors ens
 ured the factua
l background behind t  he scie
ntific 
and historical eve
 nts  po
rt rayed. 　　The  film's
 symbol of progress a
nd the new scientific era is a spacecraft
, tra
velling through t
h 
e

Milky Wa
y, making   all the p lanets and their insp iring
worlds fa mili
ar to us, with th e extravaganza of their distinctive features. T
he film's educatio nal intentio
ns, h
owe
v  er, become steadil y mor
e obscure, humorous
, o
r  even
ca mpy a
 s th
is popular
 ization
proje
c t proceed
s. With the excuse of presentin
g the end of th e w
orld a not-so-new conc  ept as a
 new, und
 eniably
scientific truth, the film veers 
happily along a ne
w pat
h, dis
playing detailed ap ocalyptic scenes of t he end 
of mank
ind. For today's audiences, this amazing fil
m demon
 str a
tes how the universe was compre hended in
  the  1920s, and how that view  was sold to contempor

ary au diences.