History Lessons

Director: Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet

1972 / 85min / DCP

Bertolt Brecht’s unfinished experimental novel The Business Affairs of Mr. Julius Caesar provides the basis for Straub and Huillet’s anachronistic historical drama, in which testimonials from the Emperor’s former slave and former banker provide perspectives on the late potentate and the lure of authoritarianism in ancient times as well as in the present day. Asked about the shots of an Alfa Romeo whipping through the streets of contemporary Rome that recur throughout the film, Straub would respond, simply: “To understand the street, you must see the street.”

The subtitles on this film was overseen and approved by Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub. The subtitles follow two unorthodox principles: they are as literal as possible and certain sections are left un-translated. This represents a break within the film with the notion that the meaning of a text is in the words and their interpretation alone. Furthermore, the passages without subtitles allow audiences a chance to hear and see the film without reading.