Wunder der Schöpfung is an extraordinary, fascinating Kulturfilm trying to explain the whole human knowledge of the 1920s about the world and the universe. 15 special effects experts and 9 cameramen were involved in the production of this film which combines documentary scenes, historical documents, fiction elements, animation scenes and educational impact. It its beautifully colored, using tinting and toning in a very elaborated way. Some visual ideas in the sequences with a space shuttle visiting different planets in the universe seem to have to be the inspiration for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
In the context of Germany's Kulturfilm phenomenon, Wunder der Schöpfung was among the greatest achievements of the 1920s. The production was constructed, rehearsed, and shot over a period of two and a half years, under the supervision of Hanns Walter Kornblum. The idea to describe the universe and man's place in it well suited UFA's Grossfilm mentality, one year before the Metropolis catastrophe. Hundreds of skilled craftsmen participated in the project, building props and constructing scale models drawn by 15 special effects draughtsmen, while 9 cameramen in separate units worked on the historical, documentary, fiction, animation, and science-fiction sequences. Without star roles or even protagonists, the film's plot is crowded with meticulously structured and skillfully acted single scenes an artful mosaic of small vignettes. No less than four credited university professors ensured the factual background behind the scientific and historical events portrayed.
The film's symbol of progress and the new scientific era is a spacecraft, travelling through the Milky Way, making all the planets and their inspiring worlds familiar to us, with the extravaganza of their distinctive features. The film's educational intentions, however, become steadily more obscure, humorous, or even campy as this popularization project proceeds. With the excuse of presenting the end of the world a not-so-new concept as a new, undeniably scientific truth, the film veers happily along a new path, displaying detailed apocalyptic scenes of the end of mankind. For today's audiences, this amazing film demonstrates how the universe was comprehended in the 1920s, and how that view was sold to contemporary audiences.
马提亚斯·施维赫夫,露比·欧·菲,弗雷德里克·劳,穆拉桑·木苏鲁,约瑟夫·贝鲁塞克,亚历山大·拜尔,西拉-安娜 法尔,Salber Lee Williams,Axel Werner
阿丽亚,刘剑羽,罗立群,黄格选,张春仲,王妍苏
格雷格·艾维甘,瑞秋·克劳福德,克劳迪亚·米歇尔森,大卫·休莱特,Diego Matamoros,克雷·班奈特,Gene Mack,劳伦斯·贝恩
Marshall Grauer,Wade Popwell,Paul Galloway,Gerald Cruse
罗伯特·阿姆斯特勒,纳迪娅·兰弗朗尼,John J,Anthony Sant'Anselmo,Gemma Donato,泰德·阿德尔曼,Rafael Siegel,Bonnie Antonini,Andrew Boetjer,Thomas Falzarano,Raymond Isenberg,James Miller,Buck King,Andreas Abramson,Tony Altstatt,Ian Dalziel,Jared Hutcheson,Alex DeCausemaker
井浦新,水原希子,三浦透子,齐藤由贵,永濑正敏,甲田益也子,板谷由夏,原日出子