Harun Farocki, Heiner Müller and the topicality of “the battle”

to filmmaker Harun Farocki articles dedicated , “Harun Farocki: The ultimately triumphant rise of the sharp eye” and “Harun Farocki as a teacher for life,” deal comprehensively with the fact that Harun Farocki’s work is more relevant than ever against the backdrop of the current changes in our world, which is also clearly reflected in the reception of his art.

As early as 1976, Farocki, together with Hanns Zischler , directed two Heiner Müller plays at the Theater Basel, “Die Schlacht” and “Traktor” (originally a scene intended for “Die Schlacht”, which Müller developed into an independent play that was often performed together with “Die Schlacht”).

These pieces are so relevant again right now that it justifies a "little excursion" within the Farocki articles with a closer look:

The texts of the important dramatist Heiner Müller dismantle the most important myth of National Socialism – the Germans as a “people’s community” who will go to death for “Führer, Volk and Fatherland” – in a way that is both sly and thorough.

“The Night of the Long Knives” uses the example of a pair of brothers to illustrate the career of traitors that inevitably lurks behind every racist or otherwise narrow-minded demarcation; the scene ends with the murder of the brother.

In the scene “I had a comrade”, three soldiers devour the fourth, the weakest killed by hunger, who thus “becomes a comrade who increases firepower from a danger to the final victory” – the ideological cynicism of the justifying soldier’s pronouncements could also sound from the camp of a so-called state.

In "Petty Bourgeois Wedding," a fanatical warrior calls upon his family to commit "heroic suicide." Since they would rather not be heroes, he murders them, but lacks the courage for the logically subsequent suicide. No problem, an innovative approach is quickly found: "Where there was an end, there will be a beginning" and "The strong are most powerful alone." Is this just as cheeky and platitudeal as the often life-destroying "performance driven by passion," which is replaced by "Trust is the beginning of everything"?

No one needs to associate with fanatical warriors, nor with fanatically speculating banks.

“Butcher and Wife” shows in five short scenes how “the average follower” within a segregating, anti-democratic, and anti-human rights organization initially benefits (economically). Then, by order from above, he is chosen to bear personal guilt – and lacks the scruples to resist this order with sufficient strength to determine or prevent his actions.

Because he didn't actually want to commit the evil deed, primarily out of cowardice, he also flees out of cowardice from taking responsibility for this evil deed or from being held accountable.

His circle consists only of "ordinary followers" whose scruples crumble at an equally low threshold. The inevitable consequence is that his own wife's moral vacillation ultimately costs him his life. It would be hard to imagine a more powerful and concise depiction of how dangerous followers are and how quickly they can become dangerous citizens – this short drama can plunge attentive viewers into a state of profound resignation.

“The Sheet or the Immaculate Conception” shows us how the victim of betrayal is still used by the traitors to achieve personal advantages even after the greatest possible damage has occurred (here: his death) – this is how many victims of financial fraud feel today, who cannot expect any compensation from the justice system.

“Tractor” deals with life “after the battle”, a miserable, amputated, and hungry life for the national community, which is so easily moved by the leader to carry out the actual acts of bloodshed and injustice.

Nothing remains of the noble national community after this string of farcical scenes, the meaning of a struggle “for leader, people and fatherland”