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Americans View of Old Moralistic Europe

Arno Widmann comments on The New York Times' obituary of Michelangelo Antonioni:
The New York Times entitled its obituary of Italian film director Michelangelo Antonioni - whose literary works are unfortunately little-known - with the words: "A Chronicler of Alienated Europeans in a Flimsy New World." The title underscores the hopelessness of Old Europe's position. Even before the article began, it made clear how small and thoroughly pass the Old Europe - and one of its most astute representatives - look in the new world of the present. Even Antonionis's moralism, which consisted of little more than taking a close, observant look at his subject, apparently bothered the transatlantic obituary writer. The quick succession of the deaths of Bergman and Antonioni seemed to fill him with a sense of relief.

No obituary of the filmmakers makes it as clear how necessary they were - and how bitterly we will miss them - as this attempt to portray them as "spectres of a morose, gloomy old Europe", unable to accept the lightness of being.

It's only natural to regard this as an American reaction. After all, that's where it's from....

the"Frankfurter Rundschau" on August 2, 2007.
The article originally appeared in German by Arno Widmann, the feuilleton editor of the Frankfurter Rundschau.
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