Da capo al fine

What I Remember And Not What I See

103 minutes, BetaSP, 4:3, colour, PAL

In 1999, I set out to work on two projects nearly at the same time. Both of them focused on art, artistic expression: Pieces of Dreams dealt with my perception of Jack Garfein’s work on a short one-act play by Samuel Beckett (recorded in 1988), and Da Capo Al Fine — What I Remember And Not What I See was about my impressions from a week-long meeting of artists on a farm in the Waldviertel region (1995). As a quasi-programmatic introduction to the latter, I had chosen a musical quote by Morton Feldman, a composer closely associated with Samuel Beckett, both of whom I feel strongly attached to. Emphasis is placed on the quality of language, the language of film, it is more important than any system of ethics or esthetics, form determines content, it creates a world.

„Form, then – the revelation of a (note, not our) world - is the most pressing, personal question any of us must face; that is, the difficulty (yet necessity) of forming a life out of the conditions we find ourselves in, among. It’s not a matter of acceptance, but self-awareness. Ultimately, confirmation arrives through the arduous (if absurd) task of coming to an agreement with existence, when it’s impossible to tell what’s real and what is not.“ (Art Lange, 1992, CD Liner notes to „For Samuel Beckett“ by Morton Feldman).

Michael Pilz, Vienna, July 1999

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Original title Da capo al fine — Was ich erinnere nicht was ich sehe
English title Da capo al fine — What I Remember And Not What I See
Produced by Michael Pilz
Concept and realization by Michael Pilz
Cinematography by Michael Pilz
Original sound by Michael Pilz
Edited by Michael Pilz

Austria 1999
Original language German, English
No subtitles

First public screening 29 March 2000, Festival of Austrian Films, Graz

Festivals Graz (AT)

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