Episode 2 of renowned filmmaker Chris Marker's mythical masterpiece about…
The Owl's Legacy: Cosmogony, or the Ways of the World
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- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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“Harmony can only be divine and it is Man... who makes it go berserk.” -- Iannis Xenakis
This episode is classic Chris Marker, tying together an abandoned Athenian power plant turned cultural center, ancient Greek statuary, a department store in Japan, young men destroyed by armored warfare during WWI, and a comparison between Plato’s parable of the cave and contemporary cinema.
From the beautiful enigmatic statues of Cycladic art to classic Greek statuary and on to the big bang theory, COSMOGONY explores the mysteries of creation—on the human, divine, and physical levels. It is no accident that in ancient Greek, the words for “poet” and “creator” are the same.
“We should raze the Sorbonne and put Chris Marker in its place.” —Henri Michaux
“The primary pleasure of the series, which is incredibly inspiring, is linked to this great banquet of participants, the sum of knowledge they invoke, but above all to the playful flows the editing establishes between their ideas, constructing a formidable network of meanings, historical and cultural perspectives - a veritable encyclopedia of development." —Le Monde
“Why did we have to wait so long for this electrifyingly intelligent film?” —Le Point
“Thirteen words to uncover an entire civilization and reestablish its considerable influence on our modern societies.” —Les Inrockuptibles
“With erudition, Chris Marker questions in each episode what remains Greek within us.” —Philosophie Magazine
Citation
Main credits
Marker, Chris (film director)
Peck, Bob (narrator)
Fairman, Denica (narrator)
Other credits
Music, Eleni Karaindrou [and 8 others]; camerapersons, Andreas Sinanos [and 5 others]; editing team, Khadicha Bariha, Nedjma Scialom.
Distributor subjects
Historical Anthropology; Ancient Greece; Chris Marker; France; PhilosophyKeywords
"The Owl's Legacy"; Icarus Films; France; Chris Marker; Ancient Greece; culture; ,doc,art; history; shod
WEBVTT
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[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:00:02.952 --> 00:00:28.580 align:middle line:90%
00:00:28.580 --> 00:00:31.340 align:middle line:84%
An old electric power
plant near Piraeus
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isn\'t a bad spot to
brood over creation,
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be it the cosmogony of gods
or the creativity of men,
00:00:38.330 --> 00:00:39.850 align:middle line:90%
but where to start?
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[SPEAKING FRENCH]
00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:54.276 align:middle line:90%
00:00:54.276 --> 00:00:56.766 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:00:56.766 --> 00:02:17.442 align:middle line:90%
00:02:17.442 --> 00:02:19.932 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
00:02:19.932 --> 00:02:41.636 align:middle line:90%
00:02:41.636 --> 00:02:44.001 align:middle line:90%
[BEEPING]
00:02:44.001 --> 00:02:45.420 align:middle line:90%
00:02:45.420 --> 00:02:47.730 align:middle line:84%
French archaeologists
working at the Delos site
00:02:47.730 --> 00:02:49.350 align:middle line:84%
have filmed the
surgical operation
00:02:49.350 --> 00:02:52.500 align:middle line:84%
which made it possible for a
statue buried for 2,000 years
00:02:52.500 --> 00:02:53.640 align:middle line:90%
to stand upright again.
00:02:53.640 --> 00:02:56.634 align:middle line:90%
[BEEPING]
00:02:56.634 --> 00:03:15.097 align:middle line:90%
00:03:15.097 --> 00:03:18.940 align:middle line:84%
The \"Négociateur,\" which means
merchant but sounds better,
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[? \"Gaius ?] Ofellius Ferus,\"
had himself immortalized
00:03:22.010 --> 00:03:25.940 align:middle line:84%
by Athenian sculptors in
the second century, BC.
00:03:25.940 --> 00:03:29.270 align:middle line:84%
Their prototype was
the Hermes at Olympia.
00:03:29.270 --> 00:03:32.420 align:middle line:84%
His immortality suffered
some setbacks from burial
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to beheading, not to mention
broken testicles glued
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back on with pink resin.
00:03:37.850 --> 00:03:41.810 align:middle line:84%
Now he\'s on his feet again
for a new share of eternity.
00:03:41.810 --> 00:03:44.030 align:middle line:84%
And if it didn\'t
go to the limekiln,
00:03:44.030 --> 00:03:47.000 align:middle line:84%
his head should be somewhere
looking for its body
00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:48.930 align:middle line:90%
as they do in myths.
00:03:48.930 --> 00:03:51.280 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
00:03:51.280 --> 00:04:55.700 align:middle line:90%
00:04:55.700 --> 00:05:00.440 align:middle line:84%
The \"Caryatids\" of the Acropolis
were not originally dead women.
00:05:00.440 --> 00:05:02.910 align:middle line:90%
But statues also die.
00:05:02.910 --> 00:05:06.270 align:middle line:84%
And Athens\' dreadful pollution
could have killed them.
00:05:06.270 --> 00:05:10.230 align:middle line:84%
So they too had to move for the
first time since their infancy.
00:05:10.230 --> 00:05:12.300 align:middle line:84%
They were torn from
the [INAUDIBLE]
00:05:12.300 --> 00:05:13.930 align:middle line:84%
where they are
replaced by copies.
00:05:13.930 --> 00:05:20.230 align:middle line:84%
[INAUDIBLE] on the spot by
having sun views all the way up
00:05:20.230 --> 00:05:24.240 align:middle line:84%
and coming down to perfect
the line of the grooving
00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:26.600 align:middle line:84%
and eliminating
the sun around it.
00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:28.630 align:middle line:84%
These are techniques
they clearly
00:05:28.630 --> 00:05:32.123 align:middle line:90%
were taught by the Egyptians.
00:05:32.123 --> 00:05:34.618 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:05:34.618 --> 00:05:46.531 align:middle line:90%
00:05:46.531 --> 00:05:48.240 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:59.711 align:middle line:90%
00:05:59.711 --> 00:06:02.126 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:06:02.126 --> 00:06:07.460 align:middle line:90%
00:06:07.460 --> 00:06:10.760 align:middle line:84%
Then there are the
traveling statues.
00:06:10.760 --> 00:06:14.420 align:middle line:84%
In 1987, for the first
time, one of the \"Kore\"
00:06:14.420 --> 00:06:16.910 align:middle line:84%
from the Acropolis
Museum was exhibited
00:06:16.910 --> 00:06:20.600 align:middle line:90%
at the Ueno Museum in Tokyo.
00:06:20.600 --> 00:06:23.375 align:middle line:84%
After listing their numerous
similarities, art critic
00:06:23.375 --> 00:06:26.720 align:middle line:84%
[INAUDIBLE] four wrote,
\"Since the early Greeks,
00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:29.090 align:middle line:84%
no people has been
so collectively art
00:06:29.090 --> 00:06:30.485 align:middle line:90%
obsessed as the Japanese.\"
00:06:30.485 --> 00:06:32.832 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:06:32.832 --> 00:07:03.891 align:middle line:90%
00:07:03.891 --> 00:07:09.900 align:middle line:84%
But wait, the surprise came
from the discover of originals.
00:07:09.900 --> 00:07:12.000 align:middle line:90%
Copies were well-known.
00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:13.920 align:middle line:84%
They were part of the
educational landscape
00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:15.940 align:middle line:90%
since one\'s birth.
00:07:15.940 --> 00:07:19.500 align:middle line:84%
The first profile a Japanese
child learns to sketch
00:07:19.500 --> 00:07:23.100 align:middle line:84%
isn\'t the sweet curve of
the [? Hadean ?] paintings.
00:07:23.100 --> 00:07:26.240 align:middle line:84%
It\'s that figure defined
by Jean [? Giraudeau ?]
00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:29.040 align:middle line:84%
which you obtain by
prolonging an imaginary line
00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:32.230 align:middle line:84%
from the Greek nose
down to the Greek soil.
00:07:32.230 --> 00:07:34.680 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:38.110 align:middle line:90%
00:07:38.110 --> 00:07:40.560 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING JAPANESE]
00:07:40.560 --> 00:08:43.460 align:middle line:90%
00:08:43.460 --> 00:08:46.790 align:middle line:84%
In the 19th century, scholars
would pray on the Acropolis.
00:08:46.790 --> 00:08:49.400 align:middle line:84%
In the 20th century,
the unscholarly
00:08:49.400 --> 00:08:54.080 align:middle line:84%
meditated inside that closed
power plant near Piraeus.
00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:56.870 align:middle line:84%
Where did that
adoration stem from?
00:08:56.870 --> 00:09:01.010 align:middle line:84%
How strong these Greek gods
were to enervate planet Earth
00:09:01.010 --> 00:09:03.140 align:middle line:90%
like a network of secret agents.
00:09:03.140 --> 00:09:06.890 align:middle line:84%
How acute they were to touch us
at the very plexus of creation.
00:09:06.890 --> 00:09:08.650 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
00:09:08.650 --> 00:15:31.123 align:middle line:90%
00:15:31.123 --> 00:15:33.388 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:15:33.388 --> 00:15:56.665 align:middle line:90%
00:15:56.665 --> 00:15:58.765 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
00:15:58.765 --> 00:16:17.082 align:middle line:90%
00:16:17.082 --> 00:16:18.422 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:16:18.422 --> 00:17:29.350 align:middle line:90%
00:17:29.350 --> 00:17:32.680 align:middle line:90%
And there lay the mystery.
00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:36.440 align:middle line:84%
That closed plant for which
[INAUDIBLE] Manoplulos fights
00:17:36.440 --> 00:17:39.980 align:middle line:84%
like a true Greek heroine
should become a modern art
00:17:39.980 --> 00:17:43.370 align:middle line:84%
museum, the most
astonishing art museum where
00:17:43.370 --> 00:17:45.800 align:middle line:84%
all the figures of creation
will be called together,
00:17:45.800 --> 00:17:49.010 align:middle line:84%
where the move from chaos
to art will be permanently
00:17:49.010 --> 00:17:52.910 align:middle line:84%
accomplished under the
gaze of huge machines
00:17:52.910 --> 00:17:54.325 align:middle line:90%
standing there like idols.
00:17:54.325 --> 00:17:56.456 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
00:17:56.456 --> 00:19:39.420 align:middle line:90%
00:19:39.420 --> 00:19:45.380 align:middle line:84%
And the eyes sometimes are
a springboard for horror.
00:19:45.380 --> 00:19:47.470 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
00:19:47.470 --> 00:21:54.240 align:middle line:90%
00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:55.180 align:middle line:90%
[INAUDIBLE] Gorgon!
00:21:55.180 --> 00:21:58.940 align:middle line:90%
00:21:58.940 --> 00:22:01.770 align:middle line:90%
So perish Medusa.
00:22:01.770 --> 00:22:03.520 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
00:22:03.520 --> 00:22:58.010 align:middle line:90%
00:22:58.010 --> 00:23:02.780 align:middle line:84%
\"Imagine men living in an
underground chamber like a cave
00:23:02.780 --> 00:23:06.422 align:middle line:84%
with an entire wall
open to the light.
00:23:06.422 --> 00:23:07.880 align:middle line:84%
These men have been
prisoners there
00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:11.450 align:middle line:84%
since childhood, their legs
and neck fastened in such a way
00:23:11.450 --> 00:23:14.720 align:middle line:84%
that they can\'t move or see
anything that\'s not directly
00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:17.060 align:middle line:90%
in front of them.
00:23:17.060 --> 00:23:22.280 align:middle line:84%
Light reaches them from a fire
burning somewhere behind them.
00:23:22.280 --> 00:23:25.400 align:middle line:84%
A road runs between the
fire and the prisoners.
00:23:25.400 --> 00:23:28.940 align:middle line:84%
Imagine a low wall stretching
the length of this road
00:23:28.940 --> 00:23:32.660 align:middle line:84%
like the screen separating
puppeteers from their audience.
00:23:32.660 --> 00:23:35.040 align:middle line:90%
I can see it.
00:23:35.040 --> 00:23:38.220 align:middle line:84%
Now imagine that men
are carrying along
00:23:38.220 --> 00:23:41.760 align:middle line:84%
all sorts of gear behind
this wall including
00:23:41.760 --> 00:23:44.100 align:middle line:90%
figures of men and animals.
00:23:44.100 --> 00:23:47.852 align:middle line:84%
A strange picture and
strange prisoners.
00:23:47.852 --> 00:23:49.560 align:middle line:84%
Do you think that our
prisoners have ever
00:23:49.560 --> 00:23:52.530 align:middle line:84%
seen anything of themselves
or of their Fellows
00:23:52.530 --> 00:23:55.350 align:middle line:84%
except the shadows
cast by firelight
00:23:55.350 --> 00:23:56.880 align:middle line:90%
on the wall of the cave?
00:23:56.880 --> 00:23:58.446 align:middle line:90%
How could they?
00:23:58.446 --> 00:24:00.657 align:middle line:84%
If they were able to
talk to each other,
00:24:00.657 --> 00:24:02.740 align:middle line:84%
don\'t you think they would
assume the shadows they
00:24:02.740 --> 00:24:04.660 align:middle line:90%
saw with the real things?
00:24:04.660 --> 00:24:05.910 align:middle line:90%
Inevitably.
00:24:05.910 --> 00:24:08.950 align:middle line:84%
Let one of these prisoners
lose, make him stand up
00:24:08.950 --> 00:24:12.890 align:middle line:84%
and raise his eyes to the
light, and he will suffer.
00:24:12.890 --> 00:24:15.560 align:middle line:84%
If he\'s dragged up out of his
cave and into the light of day
00:24:15.560 --> 00:24:18.890 align:middle line:84%
by force, will he not complain
about the violence done him?
00:24:18.890 --> 00:24:20.660 align:middle line:84%
And when he reaches
the light, will he
00:24:20.660 --> 00:24:23.180 align:middle line:84%
be able to distinguish a
single one of those things we
00:24:23.180 --> 00:24:25.700 align:middle line:90%
point out to him as real?
00:24:25.700 --> 00:24:27.260 align:middle line:90%
He will not.\"
00:24:27.260 --> 00:24:32.180 align:middle line:84%
In 1940, Simone Weil
wrote, \"Our movie houses
00:24:32.180 --> 00:24:34.640 align:middle line:90%
are not unlike that cave.\"
00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:36.500 align:middle line:90%
It wasn\'t meant as a compliment.
00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:39.170 align:middle line:84%
How could she accept that
this inferior art form should
00:24:39.170 --> 00:24:42.770 align:middle line:84%
find within the cave the
power to negate the cave,
00:24:42.770 --> 00:24:45.290 align:middle line:84%
to disarm the
gorgon, to tie itself
00:24:45.290 --> 00:24:48.540 align:middle line:84%
to the thread of human
creation and, finally,
00:24:48.540 --> 00:24:49.910 align:middle line:90%
to create its own myths.
00:24:49.910 --> 00:24:51.410 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
00:24:51.410 --> 00:24:58.310 align:middle line:90%
00:24:58.310 --> 00:25:01.060 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:25:01.060 --> 00:26:11.691 align:middle line:90%
Distributor: Icarus Films
Length: 26 minutes
Date: 1989
Genre: Expository
Language: French; German; English
Closed Captioning: Available
Interactive Transcript: Available
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