Hans Warns: My 20th Century

1999 · 1h 45mRepertory

Hans Warns: My 20th Century (1999), a repertory screening, is playing this week at Clinton Street Theater, an independent theater in Portland. Next showtime: Thu, Jul 16, 7:00 PM.

German director Gordian Maugg creates this curious documentary/reenactment of the life of Hans Warn, adventuring sailor-turned-photographer. Born in Bremen in 1899, the young Hans signs on to the good ship Herbert in 1914, but not before he persuades his mother to buy him a camera. What starts as a hobby soon develops into a passion. Soon Hans is documenting his life on the high seas and his ship's six-month capture during World War I. Later, Hans marries the girl next door, Wilma, but their family life is sporadic because of his seafaring career. Maugg uses a wide palette of cinematic tricks and devices to recall the early years of the century, including sepia tinting, decorative intertitles, distressed footage, and other idioms of early silent documentaries.