简介：《物质》定位十分明确：如何记录一个正处在转型期的国家？如何组织这些松散的材料？1989年前的生活给我们留下了什么？未来有什么希望？应该怎样处理这些“剩下的”图片？ 没有平白的叙述，只有导演的只言片语和CharlesIves哀伤的挽歌。导演通过对过去二十年来自己以及其他人拍摄的素材的整理和剪辑，让这些影像自己说话。从最近柏林的骚乱到1989年底亚历山大的大型集会，这是一个群众无视当局的罕见时刻，让人感觉任何事都可能发生。从舞台导演FritzMarquardt在使《海纳穆勒的日耳曼-死在柏林》登上舞台的联合项目中的初步谈判到今天共和国宫的毁坏。在这部影片中，Heise用他自己的方式回顾了德国历史。从二十世纪八十年起ThomasHeise就开始这项工作，将社会政治问题融合在探索历史的过程之中。以新旧辩证的眼光，ThomasHeise密切的观察，让事件自己说话，为历史创造了更多可能。 Aslowpanshotsweepsoverapieceofwastelandnexttoaruin,withthelaughterofchildrenplayinginthedistance:providingthebackgroundofthesethreemotifs–childhood,landscapeandloss.Thenanannouncementfollows:“Certainthingsremainassurplus,leftoversthatareundeveloped,unfinished.Itisthesamewithimageswaitingforastory”.Theseuneditedimages,theverysubstanceofthefilm,weremadeinthemarginsofotherfilms(hisownorotherpeople’s)orshotundertheurgentpressureofevents.Theycoverthelasttwentyyears. ThespaceofhisMaterialispreciseandwell-defined:howtodocumentacountryundergoingtransformation,howtoarticulatethisscatteredmaterial,whatisleftofLifebefore1989andofthehopesforthefuture?Whatshouldbedonewiththese‘left-over’images? Nothingisexplaineddirectly,apartfromafewraresnatchesofthedirector’scommentaryandtheelegiac,melancholicmusicofCharlesIves.Heiseleavesthesesituationscaughtupintheirownintensity:fromarecentriotofhoodiesinBerlintotheenormousrallyintheAlexanderplatzattheendof1989,showingthecrowdsdefyingtheauthoritiesinoneofthoseraremomentswhenthereisafeelingthatanythingcouldhappen;frompreliminarydiscussionswiththestagedirectorFritzMarquardtonajointprojecttostageHeinerMüller’sGermania–DeathinBerlin,towhatremainstodayoftheguttedPalaceoftheRepublic. InMaterial,HeisehasconstructedapersonalreflectiononGermany’shistoryandonhisownmethod.ThomasHeisehasbeenploughingthisfurroweversincethe1980sintheGDR,weavingtogethersocio-politicalissuesinhisexplorationofHistory.InadialecticoftheOldandtheNew,closelyobservingfacesandlettingwordsdeploythemselves,hepaysthenecessaryattentiontothisgesture,whichopensupthematerialofHistoryitselfanditspossibilities. Filmmaterialshotovera20yearperiod,avisualdiary,outtakesthatjustwillnotleavetheircreatorsalone.Puttogetherinapoeticway,inwhichchronologytakesabackseattosenseandatmosphere.Historyisnotalinearsequencebutapileofevents.…