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11 August 2024 Bonn (Germany)
Internationale Stummfilmtage: Die Leuchte Asiens / The Light of Asia
Cellophon (Cello Duo) - Arkadenhof der Universität Bonn
Program Info: This visually opulent film adaptation of the life and work of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, was shot entirely on location in India with predominantly local actors. After THE LIGHT OF ASIA, the German director Franz Osten and the Indian leading actor and producer Himansu Rai worked together for several years. A rare 35mm copy of the German version from the collections of the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation will be shown in the Arkadenhof, while the restored English version, which was digitized by the DFF in 2013, will be shown in the stream.
Available to stream from August 13th to 15th, 2024 on https://stummfilmtage.culturebase.org
This visually opulent film adaptation of the life and work of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, was shot entirely on the original location in India with a predominantly local cast. THE LIGHT OF ASIA marked the beginning of a successful prolonged collaboration between the German director Franz Osten and the Indian leadactor and producer Himansu Rai. In Bonn, a rare 35mm print of the German version from the collection of the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation will be shown, while the restored English version, which was digitised by the DFF in 2013, will be made available for streaming.
The introductory titles already emphasize the authenticity of the project, but also promise new visual attractions: “This film was shot exclusively in India, without a studio, artificial lighting or make-up. The Maharaja of Jaipur made his entire empire and court available for the filming.” In fact, the film was anything but authentic: its hybrid aesthetic mixed Christian iconography and Hindu mythology; The set and costumes were an anachronistic and geographically disparate mix - what mattered was satisfying audience expectations.
The success of THE LIGHT OF ASIA in Germany also gave the film's main actors, Himansu Rai and Seeta Devi, a kind of star status - "minor stardom", as Yiman Wang put it. This was extremely rare for non-white actors in Weimar cinema. However, this “small” form of celebrity was purchased through the denial of their performative work as actors – an equation of type and person that could be described as a “mimetic fallacy”. Béla Balázs remarked about Seeta Devi: “And that Indian child is genuine because, completely impersonal, as if dissolved in the nature of his race, he seems to carry out an eternal law even with the most accidental gesture. That’s why it’s so unspeakably beautiful.”
Tobias Nagl, in: Weimar cinema seen again. Berlin 2018
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