The Lost Angel

August 24, 1937: a day in the life of expressionist sculptor and author Ernst Barlach (Fred Duren). Barlach lives in the... (more)

August 24, 1937: a day in the life of expressionist sculptor and author Ernst Barlach (Fred Duren). Barlach lives in the small town of Gustrow, keeping to himself and wanting to steer clear of politics. On this day he learns that the Nazis have dragged his famous 1927 sculpture The Hovering Angel--which bears the features of German artist Kathe Kollwitz--out of the Gustrow Cathedral. Barlach begins to reflect on his life of "inner emigration" and on his work, which has been either confiscated or denounced as "degenerate art" by the Nazis. Although he realizes active opposition is needed, he no longer has the strength. In 1966, this film was banned by East German officials, who considered it "mystical," with "existentialist interpretations of art and power." It was released in a shortened version only in 1971. The New York Times described the film as "a masterful re-creation of the hostile environment that the artist had to endure in the last years of his life." (less)