Besonders wertvoll
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Besonders wertvoll (1968, English: Of Special Merit) is a short subject directed by Hellmuth Costard and produced by Petra Nettelbeck.
The film criticized the new German Film Funding Act of 1967 by way of a talking phallus representing German politician Hans Toussaint, co-sponsor of the new film funding law. The title Besonders wertvoll translates as 'of particular merit' (as in cultural significance, contrasted with products 'utterly without redeeming social importance') and is an allusion to the highest film rating given by Deutsche Film- und Medienbewertung.
The film is also famous for originating the famous misquotation "Only the perverse fantasy can still save us," (misattributed to Goethe), which is shown at the end of the film credits.
Plot
In the short film (about 11 minutes), a speech by German politician Hans Toussaint, who had co-sponsored the new film funding law, is represented by a talking phallus. After the speech, the phallus reappears through a glory hole, the wall of which is projected with images from a slide projector. The phallus is subsequently manipulated by a woman's hand, while in the background trumpet music is heard. The slide show consists of images of tourist sites, museums and pictures from magazines. Inserted in the middle we have a piece of news of 1956 of the mayor of Essen (Toussaint) visits a large family to award a basket of food. After an ejaculation on the camera lens, the film ends with the image of a naked buttocks and an anus, which extinguishes a candle by a fart.
Scandal
The film was intended as a protest against the new German film funding laws and scheduled to premiere at International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. Responding to an objection issued by the public prosecutor’s office the organizers removed the film from the official programme, whereupon many German filmmakers withdrew their works from the festival. The film was subsequently shown at the Ruhr University Bochum.
See also
