Heaven And Earth

Himmel und Erde

DCP (16/35 mm blowup), color and b&w, 1:1,33, 297 minutes

Take what is before you as it is and do not wish it to be different, simply exist.

Lao-tzu

He who is afraid of tiring when walking should place one foot in front of danger.

Dschuang-Tzu

Heaven and Earth is the fascinating portrait of a mountain village fighting to survive against the powers of nature as well as against economic pressures from outside. A profound reflection on the meaning of life and work, the necessity for relationships and the definite character of our world. Slow and lengthy, this film stands out for its beauty and poetry.

Prix du Jury Oecumenique,
14e Festival International de Cinéma,
Nyon, Switzerland
October 1982

With Heaven and Earth, my aim was to create something (altogether) new. It was not about the reality of mountain farming, but about my way of seeing it (Watzlawik, Godard, Laotse, Freud). It wasn’t about all sorts of ‘things’, but about my gaze on them. In other words, subject versus object.
It was about self-determination versus external control.
Thus, I attempted to find truthful images and sounds and to string them together. Unadorned. No ornamentation. Not illustrating anything. Not misusing things – that had been recorded – for extraneous ends. Letting them speak for themselves, in keeping with their own qualities. Bringing these traits to the fore. Because it is only in this manner that the true colors of those who expose themselves to them can be revealed and addressed.
The film has to muster the courage to embrace its own nakedness and face others with it.

Michael Pilz, Retrospective 2023, Vienna

Michael Pilz' eigensinnige Erkundung des Lebens im obersteirischen Bergdorf Sankt Anna gehört zu den raren Werken, die einen mit einem wacheren Auge in die Welt treten lassen. Das liegt auch daran, dass der Film sich der Kargheit und Zeitwahrnehmung von Landschaft sowie dort lebenden und arbeitenden Menschen bedingungslos hingibt und trotzdem nicht versteckt, dass hier wer filmt, der eigene Gedanken und Gefühle in diese Landschaft bringt. Im ersten Teil widmet sich Pilz der Struktur dieser Gesellschaft, im zweiten stellt er diese Ordnung vermehrt in Frage. Es wird deutlich, dass die Lebens- und Arbeitsweise zwischen Mensch, Tier und Bergen vom Aussterben bedroht ist. Das Monumentale des Films hat nichts mit seiner Länge zu tun, es ist Ausdruck seines unüberhörbaren Echos.

Patrick Holzapfel, 11.10.2023, Metro Kino Kulturhaus

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Original title Himmel und Erde
English title Heaven And Earth
Film in two parts
Part one: The Order of Things
Part two: The Course of Things
Produced by Michael Pilz Film
Concept and realization by Michael Pilz
Cinematography by Michael Pilz (Helmut Pirnat)
Original sound by Georg Buigner (Othmar Eichinger, Herbert Baumgartner)
Edited by Michael Pilz
Cast Inhabitants of the Austrian mountain village Sankt Anna, Obdach/Styria

Austria 1979/82
Original dialogues German
English subtitles

Austria 1982
Language of dialogues German, original styrian dialect
Subtitles (english version) English (Cinetyp, Luzern, Switzerland)

First public screening 23 September, 1982, 6th Austrian Filmdays, Kapfenberg/Austria

Festivals Kapfenberg (AT), Nyon (FR), Aurillac (FR), Vienna (AT), Rotterdam (NL), Berlin (DE), Figueira da Foz (PT), Montréal (CA), Paris (FR), Edinburgh (GB), Triest (IT), Graz (AT), San Jose (US), Riga (LV), 35th Summer Film School Uherské Hradiště (CZ), a.o.

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