Flächen, Kino und Bunker

At the close of Flächen, Kino und Bunker, part of a series of television programmes about film, Bitomsky makes the following statement: 'Il n'y a lieu que le lieu'. A film about space in cinema, the role of the (limited) space and locations in the masterpieces of e.g. Buñuel, Lang and Hitchcock.The film opens with the shot of a hand trying to lead the metal ball-bearings in a pocket game to the right places in a miniature maze. The goal much be reached with a combination of insight, intuition and chance. These are the ingredients which Bitomsky tries to point out in the key scenes of famous films.Flächen, Kino und Bunker (just like the other episodes in the series) has the character of a film essay in progress. Bitomsky is sitting with several colleagues in his study, surrounded by monitors, video tapes and film books while a film crew is busy recording the work in progress. Bitomsky is making a film about film and at the same time shows the filming itself.He considers that stories come about through a confrontation between people and spaces, spaces in which it is possible to watch (Schauplätzen). He shows the claustrophobically-small rooms in crime thrillers, or Buñuel's use in Los Olvidados of an almost empty and bare spot in the landscape. By repeating fragments and by stopping them using series of stills, Bitomsky dismantles, deconstructs the scenes to work out how they function with the viewer. He seems to be searching for the secrets of cinema, but realises at the same time that a complete unveiling makes the secret disappear.