Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and his

idea In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophers have considered ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of bei ...

s have been represented in film in

genres Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

ranging from documentary to fictional drama, art house and comedy. The Marxist theories of socialism,

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

, class struggle, ideology and

political economy Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour ...

influenced early Soviet-era filmmakers such as

Dziga Vertov Dziga Vertov (russian: Дзига Вертов, born David Abelevich Kaufman, russian: Дави́д А́белевич Ка́уфман, and also known as Denis Kaufman; – 12 February 1954) was a Soviet pioneer documentary film and newsre ...

and

Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, scree ...

. Eisenstein's theory of

montage Montage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Filmmaking and films * Montage (filmmaking), a technique in film editing * ''Montage'' (2013 film), a South Korean film Music * Montage (music), or sound collage * ''Montage'' (Block B EP), 201 ...

owed its "intellectual basis to Marxist dialectics". However, in addition to his philosophical influence on 20th century cinema and film-makers, Marx's life and times and his principal works have all been represented in film as subjects in their own right. Eisenstein's project, dating from 1927, to film Marx's book ''

Das Kapital ''Das Kapital'', also known as ''Capital: A Critique of Political Economy'' or sometimes simply ''Capital'' (german: Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie, link=no, ; 1867–1883), is a foundational theoretical text in materialist phi ...

'' was never realised, although in more recent years the German film director and author

Alexander Kluge Alexander Kluge (born 14 February 1932) is a German author, philosopher, academic and film director. Early life, education and early career Kluge was born in Halberstadt, Province of Saxony (now Saxony-Anhalt), Germany. After growing up durin ...

completed a lengthy homage to Eisenstein's unrealised film entitled ''News from Ideological Antiquity: Marx – Eisenstein – Das Kapital''. In the 1960s French new wave directors, notably Jean-Luc Godard, used Marxist themes in their work, including in the films ''Week End'', ''

La Chinoise ''La Chinoise, ou plutôt à la Chinoise: un film en train de se faire'' (English: ''The Chinese, or, rather, in the Chinese manner: a film in the making''), commonly referred to simply as ''La Chinoise'', is a 1967 French political film directed b ...

'' and ''

Tout va bien ''Tout va bien'' is a 1972 French-Italian political drama film directed by Jean-Luc Godard and collaborator Jean-Pierre Gorin and starring Jane Fonda and Yves Montand. The film's title means "everything is going well". It was released in the U ...

''. In the 1970s the Serbian director

Dušan Makavejev Dušan Makavejev ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Макавејев, ; 13 October 1932 – 25 January 2019) was a Serbian film director and screenwriter, famous for his groundbreaking films of Yugoslav cinema in the late 1960s and early 1970s—many of wh ...

made films which were critical and/or satirical of Marx and Marxist ideology.

The Young Karl Marx ''The Young Karl Marx'' (french: Le jeune Karl Marx; german: Der junge Karl Marx) is a 2017 historical drama film about Karl Marx, directed by Haitian filmmaker and political activist Raoul Peck, co-written by Peck and Pascal Bonitzer, and starrin ...

by the Haitian director

Raoul Peck Raoul Peck (born 9 September 1953 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) is a Haitian filmmaker, of both documentary and feature films. He is known for using historical, political, and personal characters to tackle and recount societal issues and historical ...

released in 2017 traces events in the life of young Marx in the 1840s until the writing of Communist Manifesto and has been positively reviewed by

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdasher ...

who thought the film absorbing. The 2011 documentary film '' Marx Reloaded'' combines a Marxian analysis of economic crisis with satirical animation sequences involving Marx and

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

''Year as Long as Life''

''Year as Long as Life'' (Russian: ''Год как жизнь'') is a

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

widescreen biopic completed in 1966 about the lives of

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Azerbayzhana Mambetova and

Grigori Roshal Grigori Lvovich Roshal (russian: Григорий Львович Рошаль; October 21, 1899 – January 11, 1983) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He directed 26 films between 1926 and 1968. Biography Grigori Roshal was born o ...

. The film covers one year of the lives of

(

Igor Kvasha Igor Vladimirovich Kvasha (russian: Игорь Владимирович Кваша; 4 February 1933 — 30 August 2012) was a Soviet and Russian theater and film actor. He was a leading actor of Sovremennik Theater. Igor Kvasha was one of the So ...

) and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Andrei Mironov). The script is also based on a novel by

Galina Serebryakova Galina Iosifovna Serebryakova (russian: Галина Иосифовна Серебрякова; 30 June 1980) was a Polish-Russian writer and Gulag survivor. Family Serebryakova was the daughter of professional revolutionaries. In childhood, she ...

. The film tells about the complex and interesting period in the life of Marx and Engels following the

Revolution of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...

. It begins with the narrative of the publication of ''

The Communist Manifesto ''The Communist Manifesto'', originally the ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (german: Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei), is a political pamphlet written by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Commissioned by the Commu ...

''. After the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, Marx is expelled from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, and after the start of the revolution in Germany, he moves to

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

and tries to support the comrades' publication of the ''

Neue Rheinische Zeitung The ''Neue Rheinische Zeitung: Organ der Demokratie'' ("New Rhenish Newspaper: Organ of Democracy") was a German daily newspaper, published by Karl Marx in Cologne between 1 June 1848 and 19 May 1849. It is recognised by historians as one of the ...

''. Then Marx, persecuted by the authorities for their views, must flee with his family to London.

''Marx und Engels - Stationen ihres Lebens''

In 1978 an 11 part documentary series was produced in the GDR with the name ''Marx und Engels - Stationen ihres Lebens'' (Marx and Engels - stations of their lives), featuring many acted scenes of Marx and Engels life.

''Week End''

Jean-Luc Godard's ''Week End'' is a story of a bourgeois Parisian husband and wife who decide to escape to the

countryside In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...

for the weekend only to be confronted there by the social contradictions of their consumer lifestyle. The film makes frequent references to Marx and revolution, reflecting the wider social issues in France at the time of its production.

''Sweet Movie''

In ''Sweet Movie'', directed by Dušan Makavejev, a boat with a giant Karl Marx figurehead sailing along a river is a consistent narrative motif. The film includes several characters, such as 'Mr. Kapital' (played by

John Vernon John Keith Vernon (born Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz; February 24, 1932 February 1, 2005) was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada. He was best known for playing Dean Wormer ...

), who refer to Marx and Marxist themes.

''News from Ideological Antiquity''

Alexander Kluge's ''News from Ideological Antiquity: Marx – Eisenstein – Das Kapital'', is an experimental film which explores “the Marxian attention to the production, distribution and consumption at work behind the phenomenological surface of everyday life and experience.” The film is composed of what the Marxist critic

Frederic Jameson Fredric Jameson (born April 14, 1934) is an American literary critic, philosopher and Marxist political theorist. He is best known for his analysis of contemporary cultural trends, particularly his analysis of postmodernity and capitalism. James ...

calls "fragments", akin to "

Freudian Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...

free association", rather than a conventional and linear narrative. Instead of representing Marx's book '' Capital'', the film is therefore a study of the difficulty facing Eisenstein, or any other director, in trying to represent such a work and the ideas contained in it. Apart from the more conceptual passages in the film – whose overall running time is a lengthy 570 minutes – comedian

Helge Schneider Helge Schneider (born 30 August 1955 in Mülheim an der Ruhr) is a German entertainer, comedian, musician, author, film and theatre director, and actor. He frequently appears on German television and is probably best known for his song "Katzeklo ...

impersonates Marx in several scenes.

''Marx Reloaded''

''Marx Reloaded'', written and directed by the British

theorist A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be ...

Jason Barker Jason Barker (born 1971) is a British theorist of contemporary French philosophy, a film director, screenwriter and producer. He is a professor of cultural studies at Kyung Hee University in the Graduate School of British and American Language an ...

, is a partly animated documentary film which investigates the contemporary relevance of Marx's ideas in the context of the

financial crisis of 2007–2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

. The film asks whether "(we) should ... accept the crisis as an unfortunate side-effect of the free market" or whether there is "another explanation as to why it happened and its likely effects on our society, our economy and our whole way of life." The film interviews several leading Marx-inspired

philosophers A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and critics including

Michael Hardt Michael Hardt (born 1960) is an American political philosopher and literary theorist. Hardt is best known for his book ''Empire'', which was co-written with Antonio Negri. Hardt and Negri suggest that several forces which they see as domin ...

Antonio Negri Antonio "Toni" Negri (born 1 August 1933) is an Italian Spinozistic-Marxist sociologist and political philosopher, best known for his co-authorship of ''Empire'' and secondarily for his work on Spinoza. Born in Padua, he became a political p ...

Nina Power Nina Power is an English writer and philosopher. She is a senior editor of and columnist for the online magazine ''Compact''. Power received her PhD in philosophy from Middlesex University on the topic of humanism and antihumanism in postwar ...

Jacques Rancière Jacques Rancière (; born 10 June 1940) is a French philosopher, Professor of Philosophy at European Graduate School in Saas-Fee and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris VIII: Vincennes—Saint-Denis. After co-authoring ' ...

Peter Sloterdijk Peter Sloterdijk (; ; born 26 June 1947) is a German philosopher and cultural theorist. He is a professor of philosophy and media theory at the University of Art and Design Karlsruhe. He co-hosted the German television show ''Im Glashaus: Das P ...

, Alberto Toscano and Slavoj Žižek. In addition to its Marxian analysis the film follows "''

The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...

''-themed cartoon adventures of Karl Marx, lost in an Alice-style commodity-induced nightmare with only one way out."

''Monty Python's Flying Circus''

At least two episodes of the

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

comedy series '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'' include sketches depicting Marx in modern-day settings, and which lampoon the presumed gravity of his thinking. In one episode Marx competes in a TV quiz show for a lounge suit but fails to win when the show's host poses him a prosaic question about football.

''The Young Karl Marx''

''The Young Karl Marx'' is a 2017 film about

Young Marx The correct place of Karl Marx's early writings within his system as a whole has been a matter of great controversy. Some believe there is a ''break'' in Marx's development that divides his thought into two periods: the "Young Marx" is said to be ...

directed by

starring August Diehl.

''The Leader''

''The Leader'' is an animation series co-produced by the Chinese government's Office for the Research and Construction of Marxist Theory about Marx's life, friendship, romance, and "his contributions to class struggle and the revolutionary movement."

Marx filmography

Films in which Karl Marx is represented and/or in which his ideas or principal works comprise the main narrative theme:

Fiction

* 1967 ''Week End''. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. * 1968 ''Mohr und die Raben von London'' (''Moor and the Ravens of London''). Directed by Helmut Dziuba. * 1974 ''

Sweet Movie ''Sweet Movie'' is a 1974 avant-garde surrealist comedy-drama film written and directed by Yugoslavian director Dušan Makavejev. An international co-production of companies from France, Canada, and West Germany, the film follows two women: a Can ...

''. Written and directed by

. * 1979 ''Karl Marx. The Early Years (Die jungen Jahre). Germany-USSR. Parts 1–7. * 2004 " The Fever". Directed by Gabriel Nero. * 2010 ''

The Germans "The Germans" (named on some releases as "Fire Drill") is the sixth episode of the BBC sitcom '' Fawlty Towers''. In the episode, while suffering the effects of concussion, Basil Fawlty repeatedly offends some German guests. Despite warning ...

– Karl Marx and the Class struggle'' (Die Deutschen – Karl Marx und der Klassenkampf) * 2012 ''The Meeting of the Century'' (Encontro do século) produced by UNIVESP TV * 2014 ''Marx is back'' (Marx Ha Vuelto) (Argentina) * 2016 ''

The Limehouse Golem ''The Limehouse Golem'' is a 2016 British horror-mystery film directed by Juan Carlos Medina from a screenplay by Jane Goldman. The film, an adaptation of Peter Ackroyd's 1994 murder mystery novel ''Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem'', stars Ol ...

'' portrayed by

Henry Goodman Henry Goodman (born 23 April 1950) is a RADA trained British actor. He has appeared on television and radio, in film and in the theatre. Early life He attended the Central Foundation Boys' School and joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, L ...

* 2017 ''

'' (Le jeune Karl Marx). Directed by

. * 2020 '' Miss Marx'', about Marx's daughter

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

. Portrayed by

Philip Gröning Philip Gröning (born 7 April 1959 in Düsseldorf) is a German director, documentary film maker and screenwriter. Career Gröning was raised in Germany and US, but also traveled extensively. He studied Medicine and Psychology before beginning in ...

Documentary

* 1983 ''The Spectre of Marxism''. Script by Stuart Hall. Produced by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

. * 1986 '' Manifestoon''. Directed by Jesse Drew. * 2002 '' The Mark Steel Lectures''. Series 1, episode 6. Produced by

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

. * 2005 '' Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism''. Episode 1.

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

, US. * 2008 ''Karl Marx – Ein Philosoph macht Geschichte'' (''Karl Marx: A Philosopher Makes History''). Directed by Gernot Jaeger and Carsten Jaeger. * 2011 '' Marx Reloaded''. Written, directed and co-produced by

. Medea Film / Films Noirs /

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

. * 2016 ''Genius of the Modern World: Karl Marx''. Episode 1, BBC.

Art film

* 1999 '' Wandering Marxwards''. Directed by Michael Blum and produced at the Banff Center for the Arts, Alberta, Canada. * 2008 '' Nachrichten aus der ideologischen Antike - Marx/Eisenstein/Das Kapital'' (''News from Ideological Antiquity: Marx – Eisenstein – Das Kapital''). Directed by

Comedy

* 1970 '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', episode 25: ' World Forum/Communist Quiz'. * 1972 ''

Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus ''Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus'' (''Monty Python's Flying Circus'') are a pair of 45-minute Monty Python German television comedy specials produced by WDR for West German television. The two episodes were respectively first broadcast in Janua ...

'', episode 2: '

The Philosophers' Football Match "International Philosophy", commonly referred to as the Philosophers' Football Match, is a Monty Python sketch depicting a football match in the Munich Olympiastadion between philosophers representing Greece and Germany. Starring in the sketch ar ...

'. Directed by

Ian MacNaughton Edward Ian MacNaughton (30 December 1925 – 10 December 2002) was a Scottish actor-turned-television producer and director, best known for his work with the ''Monty Python'' team. MacNaughton was director and producer for all but four of the f ...

References

Sources

Frederic Jameson in New Left Review, July–August 2009.''Karl Marx: Ein Philosoph macht Geschichte'' at Amazon.'World Forum – Communist Quiz' in ''Monty Python’s Flying Circus'', episode 25 at YouTube.''Mohr und die Raben von London'' at the Internet Movie Database.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karl Marx In Film

Marx, Karl Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

Film