Happy Lamento

The essay film shows in a kind of stream of thoughts the most different things and concepts, both abstract and concrete, in the typical style of Alexander Kluge. He shows elephants during the evacuation of a Russian circus in 1941, electric light, Trump at the G20 summit and brutal street fights among gangs of children in the northern slums of Manila. The film was made in cooperation with the nonconformist director Khavn de la Cruz from Manila and contains numerous scenes from his film "Alipato - The Very Brief Life of an Ember". In addition, the soundtrack contains different versions of the song "Blue Moon" as interpreted by Elvis Presley and others, as well as a "Happy Lamento" ("Happy Lament") on the goods left behind on Saturdays after department store closing time. In real and fictitious interviews Heiner Müller philosophises about the moon, Peter Berling, who died in 2017, speaks about the military use of lions and comedian and musician Helge Schneider makes an appearance as a streamersnake man.