Der VW-Komplex

Revisiting Hartmut Bitomsky’s DER VW-KOMPLEX in the aftermath of the German director’s recent passing isn’t just a reminder of his uniquely cerebral take on documentary cinema, but also underlines the extent to which such fiercely political approaches are still needed today. This final part of Bitomsky’s celebrated Germany trilogy is an essayistic wander through the vast Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, zeroing in on the myriad processes that unfold there while making repeated forays out into the local surroundings or back into the past.
With each of these divergent levels tied together by Bitomsky’s drolly incisive voiceover, the peculiarities of 20th century work are thus analysed and the history and topography of the planned city that sprung up around this huge complex explored, with due attention also paid to its National Socialist origins; there’s even time for metacommentary on what it means to represent a factory by way of a VW-themed novel, a spooky unrealised Hitchcock film and the very first moving images to exist. They say that when Volkswagen isn’t doing well, neither is Germany; in the face of the company’s current struggles, the greatest testament to Bitomsky’s timeless approach is that there’s no better moment for a sequel. (James Lattimer)

Introduction by Christian Petzold.