Lichtspiel

One of the greatest figures in cinema, perhaps the greatest director of his era: G. W. Pabst films in France during the rise to power; fleeing the horrors of the new Germany, he escapes to Hollywood. But under the dazzling California sun, the world-famous director suddenly appears like a dwarf. Not even Greta Garbo, whom he immortalized, can help him. Thus, Pabst finds himself, almost without his own doing, back in his homeland of Austria, now called Ostmark. The barbaric nature of the regime is felt by the returning family with all clarity. Yet the propaganda minister in Berlin wants the film genius; he knows no opposition and promises much. While Pabst still believes he can resist the allure, that he will submit to no dictatorship other than that of art, he has already taken the first step into a hopeless entanglement. Daniel Kehlmann's novel about art and power, beauty and barbarism is a triumph. Lichtspiel shows what literature can achieve: bringing forth the truth through invention.