Our first German Monday Film screening is Detlev Buck’s brilliant movie which is based on Daniel Kehlmann’s bestselling novel by the same title   

DIE VERMESSUNG DER WELT – MEASURING THE WORLD
2012, 102 min., dir. Detlev Buck (Herr Lehmann, Knallhart), starring Florian D. Fitz, Albrecht A. Schuch, German with English subtitles  

DATE: 4 AUGUST

TIME: 17h00

VENUE: Howard College, MTB West Wing, 1^st Floor, German Programme, Media Room F251 

About the Film:
Two of the greatest minds of the 19^th century, mathematician Carl Friederich Gauss (Florian David Fritz) and scientist Alexander von Humboldt (Albrecht Abraham Schuch), dedicate their studies to measuring and comprehending the world they live in. Based on Daniel Kehlmann's best-selling novel of the same name, this visually stunning epic is a playful re-imagining of the great men’s lives. Humboldt, a man with a passion for global exploration, is contrasted with Gauss, a man who experiences his world through mathematical theories and figures. Humboldt, aided by his colleague, Aimé Bonpland, travels the globe physically engaging the world he wishes to understand, applying modern, scientific thinking to comparatively unknown regions. Though he remains in the same destitute community for much of his life, Gauss’ interior journey of mathematical discovery proves to be just as rich and visually stunning as Humboldt’s adventures in remote areas of the world. Fact and fiction are mixed, often to humorous effect, to chronicle the findings of two very different men who nevertheless sought the same answers. 

For further details please contact: 

Dr Marion Pape
Head, German Studies
University of KwaZulu-Natal
School of Arts
Durban, 4041
Email: papem@ukzn.ac.za
Tel: 0027-31-260 1086 / 2380
Fax: 0027-31-260 1242