Madame Butterfly Waits (1988) by Alexander Kluge
Saturday, April 21, 1990, 8:00 pm
TEN TO ELEVEN – MADE FOR TV BY ALEXANDER KLUGE
Program I
In an earlier era, Alexander Kluge would be called a Renaissance Man. In addition to being an influential filmmaker, Kluge has also been a lawyer, author, teacher, political theoretician and Thomas Adorno’s assistant. In 1988, he began to produce weekly shows for German television. Well-received in Europe, their American premiere was at the 1989 A.F.O Video Festival. Madame Butterfly Waits extends Kluge’s fascination with the melodrama of Opera. The African Lady, or Love with a Fatal Outcome also springs from operatic cliches, but this time we ourselves are thrust onto the stage. Antiques of Advertising explores the language of desire and commodity fetish, while Blue Hour Tango Time juxtaposes the death of Gardel with an atomic power plant. Running time: 80 minutes.