One Way Street: Fragments for Walter Benjamin
Directed by John Hughes
Screening on ABC-TV as part of The Big Picture — New Directions series on Thursday December 10, 9.30 p.m.
Reviewed by Bronwen Beechey
One Way Street explores the life and ideas of critic and philosopher Walter Benjamin, who died escaping the Gestapo in 1940. Although his work is little known in this country, he is regarded as one of the most influential figures in 20th century thought, and has influenced a diverse range of artists and thinkers including Bertolt Brecht, Hannah Arendt, Jaques Derrida and Laurie Anderson.
Benjamin was born 100 years ago into a cosmopolitan and wealthy German Jewish family. A well-know writer and broadcaster in pre-Hitler Germany, he was forced into exile in 1933. He fled Paris ahead of the advancing Nazis, but was prevented from crossing the Franco-Spanish border and committed suicide rather than fall into the hands of the Gestapo.
In works such as Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Benjamin argued that 20th-century culture could best be understood by examining its fragments — everyday objects, junk, apparel, and images. Hughes uses stylised drama, heightened visuals and montage to reflect these ideas.
While the documentary is certainly interesting viewing, those not familiar with either Benjamin's writings or philosophical debates would probably benefit more from a fuller explanation of his theories. Certainly this reviewer felt somewhat alienated and not much wiser about this interesting and influential figure.