Geschichtsunterricht

Based on an unfinished novel by Bertolt Brecht, The Business Affairs of Mr. Julius Caesar, it opens, magnificently, in a long take showing a young man, wearing modern clothes, driving his Alfa Romeo sports car through modern Rome. We then see him interviewing four ancient Romans, in antique costumes – a banker, a peasant, a jurist and a writer. The subject is the career of Julius Caesar, and the analogies in the histories of both contemporary and ancient Rome. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)