Buchpräsentation: Wege (Band 5)

The fifth volume of "Wege. Spuren und Bahnen der Bewegung im Kino" (Paths: Traces and Trajectories of Movement in Cinema) turns its attention to the study of goal-orientation as conditioned by the paths taken. Following the examination of the "where" and "how" of paths, the focus shifts to the "whither"—the destination. The first part investigates written indications of destinations, such as signposts and town-limit signs. The second part addresses vertical paths: rock faces that demonstrate the act of walking on one's hands, as well as elevators and staircases that reveal themselves to be determinants of social stratification. The third chapter returns to the horizontal dimension of cinematic movement, exploring escape routes, detours, and deviations. To illustrate one of the many functions of staircases in film, the text presents a brief example involving a reinterpretation of Eisenstein’s Odessa Steps sequence: "Odessa Crash Test (Notes on Film 09)" (2014, Norbert Pfaffenbichler) subjects the shots of the baby carriage to a precise experimental setup that puts the combinatorics of verticality to the test. (K.S.)