Transposed Bodies

Katja Pratschke and Gusztav Hamos

Fremdkorper (Transposed Bodies), video, Germany, 2002.

Based on the Thomas Mann novella The Transposed Heads, the film recounts the story of two inseparable friends, Jan and Jon, and their shared love of Marie. Inspired by the affinity and alienation of photos and film images, the film quite deliberately draws a line between the inside and the outside of bodies, between moving and non-moving images, between medical imaging techniques and photography. The protagonist's bodies, or more correctly the skin that covers them, is the interface between these two worlds.

The 111 photograph of the novel adopt the aesthetic of the French Nouvelle Vague films: some of the photos have been constructed in imitation of cinematic originals (such as the mirror situation from Bresson's film "Lancelot du Lac") or the clear quotation from "Jules and Jim". In each individual image, Transposed Bodies points beyond its context, from frame to frame, unfolding a narrative space.

Posted by Francesca