"Simulacra and Simulation" and Hollywood

[Otto]

And I still recommend this, 'though I guess it will be hard to get in the US
. . .

Welt am Draht (World on a Wire, 1973)
P1 99 min., P2 106 min., colour, German w/English subtitles, 35 mm, New
Print.
Cast: Klaus Löwitsch, Macha Elm Rabben, Adrian Hoven
"I directed a series of two one-and-a-half-hour segments based on a novel by
Daniel F. Galouyé. It´s a very beautiful story called "World on A Wire" that
depicts a world where one is able to make projections of people with a
computer. And, of course, that leads to the uncertainty of whether someone
is himself  a projection, since in this virtual world the projections
resemble reality. Perhaps another larger world made us as a virtual one? In
this sense it deals with an old philosophical model, which here takes  on a
certain horror."  (Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1973)
http://www.goethe.de/uk/mon/archiv/eweltamdraht.htm

In the near future, a team of researchers are using the powerful
supercomputer Simulacron-1 to create an extremely detailed and realistic
virtual reality full of 'people' who are in fact programs that can be
terminated at the whim of the scientists. But when project leader Henry
Vollmer dies, his successor, Dr Fred Stiller, notices that something is not
right in the institute. When a close friend suddenly vanishes in the middle
of a conversation and no-one can ever remember seeing him, Stiller begins to
wonder if anything around him is real at all and comes to believe that maybe
he's just one of Simulacron-1's programs...
http://www.eofftv.com/welt_am_draht_main.htm

RWF biography & filmography
http://www.blockbuster.com/bb/person/details/0,7621,BIO-P+89436,00.html

Otto

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Morris" <fqmorris at hotmail.com>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Friday, May 24, 2002 3:36 PM
Subject: "Simulacra and Simulation" and Hollywood


http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/24/opinion/24FRI4.html

A French Philosopher Talks Back to Hollywood and 'The Matrix'

The French philosopher Jean Baudrillard seemed to fight off a yawn when I
asked him recently about the celebrity that has come to him through "The
Matrix," a futuristic cyber-thriller that hit the screen three years ago and
became one of the hottest movies of all time. Before this movie, Mr.
Baudrillard's dense little book "Simulacra and Simulation" was studied
mainly by cloistered graduate students and theory-heads. Because "The
Matrix" cribbed from the book for its dialogue and gave a full-screen shot
of the title, "Simulacra and Simulation" has become a cult hit, even though
it is difficult to pronounce and not easy to read. The book's profile is
likely to rise even higher when the first of two sequels hits the screen
next year.



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