Berthold Bartosch
L'Idée
Institutions (universities, libraries, museums, cultural centres…) must add institutional rights to their order. Rates vary by region (North America, Europe & UK, Asia, Oceania).
Add rightsFormat DVD Interzone
Original format 16mm
Year 1932-1976
Language(s) French
Artist(s) Berthold Bartosch
Running time 30 min
Films
L'IDÉE (1932) 30'
Description
"Men live and die for an idea but the idea is immortal. You can pursue it, you can judge it, you can prohibit it, you can condemn it to death but the idea continues to live in the minds of men."
L'idée (1932) begins with these words, synthesizing all the political force of this animated film.
"(...) Bartosch showed that animation could be POETIC... Bartosch was the first to give animation the dimension of a great art, expressing his pain, laying bare his heart, and recounting his hope for a better future - which he would never see."
— Alexander Alexeieff and Claire Parker, 1969
The only preserved film by Bartosch, made entirely by his own hands in Paris in 1932. Nearly 45,000 frames were animated simultaneously on four levels, often with up to 18 superimpositions made in-camera.
This DVD is a transfer of our 2003 VHS edition. It is the official version made in 1976 by Maria Bartosch & Cecile Starr. The transfer was a Digibeta transfer supervised from a new 16mm print. It remains the highest quality transfer ever made.