造物 的奇迹

Wunder der  Sc höpfu ng is an
extra
ord inary, fas cina 
ting Kulturf
ilm trying to expla in the whole
human knowle dg
e 
of the 19 20s 
abou t  the w
orl
d and the universe. 15 sp ecial effects experts and 9 camer ame n wer e involved i n the producti on of this fil m which combine
s documentary sc  enes, historical documents,
 fict
ion eleme
 nts,

an
imation scenes and  educational impact. It it
s bea utif 
ul 
ly c
olored,  u
s ing tinting a
nd toning
 in a very el aborated way. S
ome vi
sual  ideas in the sequences  wit h a space sh uttle
visiting different planets in the universe seem to have to be the inspirati on for   Stanl ey 
Kubrick's 20 01 A Space Odyssey.　　In the contex 
t of Ger
many' s Kul turfilm phen
omenon, Wunder  der Schöpfun
g was among the gre
atest
achi

evements of the 1920s. The production wa s constructed, rehearsed, and sho t over a period of tw o and  a half years, unde r the sup ervision of Hanns Walter Ko
 rnblum. The idea 
t
o describe  the unive
rse and ma   n's p

lace in it well suited UFA's
Gr oss  film mentality, one year befo re the Metropolis catastroph  e. H
undreds 
of 

skilled 
craftsmen participated in the pro
je ct,  buildin g p r ops and const

ructing scale  models  drawn 
 by 15 special e ffects dra ughtsmen, while  9 camerame n in sepa rate units worked on the hi storical,  documen
ta
ry, fiction, 
animat
ion, an
d science-
fictio n seque nces. Without star ro les or even protagonist s, the film's plot is crowded with meticulously struc
tur ed and s ki
ll ful ly acted single scenes
 an  artful mosaic of small 
vig
n
ett
es. No less than four credite d
university profess
ors ensured the  f a ctual background behind  the scien  tif ic and hist orical ev

ents portrayed.　　The f
ilm' s symbol of progress
 and  the new s cie ntific era is a sp

acecraft, travell in


g throug
h the  M
 ilky Way, mak
in g all the  planets and their inspiring wo
 rlds famili
ar to us,

with th e extravaganza of their
disti nctive fea tur es. The film's educ
ational inten tions, however,  become s t
eadily more obscure, humo rous, or  even 

campy as thi s popularization project pro ceed s. W it h the excuse o f pre senting the end
of the wo rld a not-so-new concept

as a new, undeniably  scientif
i c  truth, t he film veer s happily along a new p
a
th, display
ing detailed apocalyp tic sc enes of the end  of man
kind. For today' s
  audiences, this amazing fi lm  demonstrates how  the universe wa
s comprehended in
 the 1920s, and how that view was sold 
t  o co ntemporary audiences.