Klammer auf Klammer zu
As an Aside
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek, © GbR Filmrechte Hellmuth Costard
Klammer auf Klammer zu is the story of a young man who decides to leave the country after the 1965 West German parliamentary elections. He hitchhikes out of Hamburg, but makes it only as far as the Lüneburg Heath. There, he meets a woman driving a Jaguar, protects her from an “attack” by a light sport airplane and then helps her sell her car to a shepherd. When doubts arise about the buyer’s solvency, the man and woman take the train back to Hamburg … Hellmuth Costard plays with formats in this short by combining set pieces from nouvelle vague and genre film. Jazzed up with beat music and comic book images, he’s made a road movie on the French model that plays “self-analytically” with conventions and audience expectations.