2-disc DVD: In the first century of the third millennium, a galactic civil war is raging between governments, industrial giants and space pirates. Run for your lives! The Big Mess features space captain Douglas, the pirate couple Sterr, a space admiral and countless other characters trying to eke out a living in the cosmos. But whenever they get anywhere, they find they've been beaten to it by monopolist enterprises. In Willi Tobler and the Decline of the 6th Fleet, Willi (Alfred Edel) endeavours to survive in a world where annihilistic galactic battles rage, by taking a job at the centre of power. But it's the wrong side that he takes in this civil war. Extras include additional science fiction short films by Alexander Kluge as well as a ROM section with Kluge's book "Learning Processes with a Deadly Outcome".
The films
Der große Verhau / The Big Mess - West Germany 1971 - Directed and written by: Alexander Kluge -Cinematography by:Thomas Mauch, Alfred Tichawsky - Edited by: Maximiliane Mainka, Beate Maika-Jellinghaus - Darsteller / Cast:Maria Sterr, Vincenz Sterr, Sigi Graue, Henrike Fürst, Hajo von Zündt, Silvia Forsthofer, Hark Bohm, Hannelore Hoger, Amon Düül II - Produced by: Kairos-Film, Munich -Première: June 30, 1971 (Internationales Forum des Jungen Films, Berlin)
Willi Tobler und der Untergang der 6. Flotte / Willi Tobler and the Decline of the 6th Fleet - West Germany 1972 - Directed and written by:Alexander Kluge - Cinematography by: Dietrich Lohmann, Alfred Tichawsky, Thomas Mauch - Edited by: Maximiliane Mainka, Beate Maika-Jellinghaus - Cast: Alfred Edel, Kurt Jürgens, Hark Bohm, Natalia Bowakow, Sabine, Steffi und Angela Skalla, Hannelore Hoger - Produced by: Kairos-Film, Munich - Première: January 19, 1972 (ZDF)
Triebwerk-Husten / Engine Cough - Germany 1996 - Directed and written by: Alexander Kluge - Cast: Alfred Edel, Uwe-Karsten Koch - Produced by: Kairos-Film, Munich - Première: September 8, 1996 (RTL)
Der Tag ist nah / The Day Is Nigh - Germany 1997 - Directed and written by: Alexander Kluge - Produced by: Kairos-Film, Munich - Première: March 16, 1997 (RTL)
Raumfahrt als inneres Erlebnis / Spaceflight as an Internal Experience - Germany 1999 - Directed and written by: Alexander Kluge - Cast: Peter Berling - Produced by: Kairos-Film, Munich - Première: August 8, 1999 (SAT 1)
DVD features (2 discs)
DVD 1
- Der große Verhau 1971, 90'
- Triebwerk-Husten 1996, 15'
- Learning Processes With a Deadly Outcome 2006, 1'
- 8 page booklet with texts by Alexander Kluge
DVD 2
- Willi Tobler und der Untergang der 6. Flotte 1972, 78'
- Der Tag ist nah 1997, 15'
- Raumfahrt als inneres Erlebnis 1999, 15'
- Das gab's nur einmal 2006, 1'
- ROM feature: Book "Learning Processes With a Deadly Outcome" (107 pages) as PDF-File
DVD edited by: Filmmuseum München and Goethe-Institut, funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation
DVD authoring: Ralph Schermbach
DVD supervision: Stefan Drössler
First edition February 2007, Second edition August 2007
