Kandidat, Der

The equivalent of the collective work Germany in Autumn, in which a wide group of creators under the coordination of A. Kluge focused on the social analysis of post-war Germany, this time with a clear aim - to prevent the election of Franz Josef Strauss (chairman of the Bavarian conservative CSU) as Reich Chancellor. For this reason, the film focuses on the career of the said person, including his corrupt affairs and abuses of power (the famous Spiegel affair of 1962), which may not mean as much to today's viewer, but in the context of the work itself, it makes absolute sense. Fortunately, the film is also composed of brilliantly captured metaphors about the nature of power in a capitalist state and the psychology of the masters of this system, balancing artistic license and documentary accuracy. The authors once again demonstrate their sense for detail (both in meaning and visually), with which they are able to create a compelling narrative about specific events and general topics from impersonal documentary material. Given the unwillingness, in the tense atmosphere of the pre-election period, to provide space for leftist creators, the authors could not get close to Strauss or attend CSU meetings, so they had to rely on archival and weekly records, which they ultimately combined with their own footage. The film, playing out in an ironic spirit, is also a painful testimony to the unfulfilled chances of post-war Germany: "The ideals of 1945, revoked in 1949, returned in 1968 and from that moment on, they will continue to return until they are fulfilled." (15.03.2015)