
Safe Condition: Document in the Past Perfect(1994)
Frames 20th-Century ideologies and dreams of liberation, using found footage. The film presents an account of the period between 1932-1985, juxtaposing two different films in a montage format. One, 18mm home footage of an unknown Danish family, taken before and after WW2. A deadpan camera registers happy holiday moments, the Berlin Olympics (1936), and the World Exhibition in Paris (1937). Secondly, and with the same lack of involvement, we see the liberation of Denmark in May 1945. The second film is a first generation erotic movie, shot in 1972, showing a student's party developing into carnality, reflecting the liberating promises of this newly legalized pornography. The entire montage is accompanied by and interview with Charles Manson, who projects his messianic views from his prison cell. Through its anti-dramatic slide from normality to perversion, the film implicitly challenges the 20th-Century welfare state's promise of freedom to its citizens.
Movie: Safe Condition: Document in the Past Perfect

Safe Condition: Document in the Past Perfect
HomePage
Overview
Frames 20th-Century ideologies and dreams of liberation, using found footage. The film presents an account of the period between 1932-1985, juxtaposing two different films in a montage format. One, 18mm home footage of an unknown Danish family, taken before and after WW2. A deadpan camera registers happy holiday moments, the Berlin Olympics (1936), and the World Exhibition in Paris (1937). Secondly, and with the same lack of involvement, we see the liberation of Denmark in May 1945. The second film is a first generation erotic movie, shot in 1972, showing a student's party developing into carnality, reflecting the liberating promises of this newly legalized pornography. The entire montage is accompanied by and interview with Charles Manson, who projects his messianic views from his prison cell. Through its anti-dramatic slide from normality to perversion, the film implicitly challenges the 20th-Century welfare state's promise of freedom to its citizens.
Release Date
1994-01-01
Average
8
Rating:
4.0 startsTagline
Genres
Languages:
English
Recommendations Movies
7.6As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty(en)
A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.
7.4Peeping Tom(en)
Loner Mark Lewis works at a film studio during the day and, at night, takes racy photographs of women. Also he's making a documentary on fear, which involves recording the reactions of victims as he murders them. He befriends Helen, the daughter of the family living in the apartment below his, and he tells her vaguely about the movie he is making.
6.5Heart of a Dog(en)
Lyrical and powerfully personal essay film that reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother, her beloved dog, and such diverse subjects as family memories, surveillance, and Buddhist teachings.
6.2Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story(en)
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
7.3Maria by Callas(en)
Told through performances, TV interviews, home movies, family photographs, private letters and unpublished memoirs, the film reveals the essence of an extraordinary woman who rose from humble beginnings in New York City to become a glamorous international superstar and one of the greatest artists of all time.
6.5The Souvenir: Part II(en)
In the aftermath of her tumultuous relationship with a charismatic and manipulative older man, Julie begins to untangle her fraught love for him in making her graduation film, sorting fact from his elaborately constructed fiction.
6.7Blink Twice(en)
When tech billionaire Slater King meets cocktail waitress Frida at his fundraising gala, he invites her to join him and his friends on a dream vacation on his private island. But despite the epic setting, beautiful people, ever-flowing champagne, and late-night dance parties, Frida can sense that there’s something sinister hiding beneath the island’s lush façade.
6.7Level 16(en)
The teenage girls of Vestalis Academy are meticulously trained in the art of being “clean girls,” practicing the virtues of perfect femininity. But what exactly are they being trained for? Vivien intends to find out.
7.4Zelig(en)
Fictional documentary about the life of human chameleon Leonard Zelig, a man who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act like whoever is around him. Clever editing places Zelig in real newsreel footage of Woodrow Wilson, Babe Ruth, and others.
5.9Charlie Says(en)
Three young women were sentenced to death in the infamous Manson murder case, but when the death penalty was lifted, their sentence became life imprisonment. One young graduate student was sent in to teach them – and through her we witness their transformations as they face the reality of their horrific crimes.
6.0Maniac(en)
As he helps a young artist with her upcoming exhibition, the owner of a mannequin shop's deadly, suppressed desires come to the surface.
7.6Night Will Fall(en)
When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".
6.0Paranormal Activity(en)
After a young, middle-class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic but is certainly the most active in the middle of the night.
5.9V/H/S/99(en)
A thirsty teenager's home video leads to a series of horrifying revelations, harkening back to the final punk rock analog days of VHS, while taking one giant leap forward into the hellish new millennium.
5.8The Devil on Trial(en)
Explore the first – and only – time “demonic possession” has officially been used as a defense in a U.S. murder trial. Including firsthand accounts of alleged devil possession and a shocking murder, this extraordinary story forces reflection on our fear of the unknown.
7.5Woodstock(en)
An intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in 1969, from preparation through cleanup, with historic access to insiders, blistering concert footage, and portraits of the concertgoers; negative and positive aspects are shown, from drug use by performers to naked fans sliding in the mud, from the collapse of the fences by the unexpected hordes to the surreal arrival of National Guard helicopters with food and medical assistance for the impromptu city of 500,000.
6.1Naqoyqatsi(en)
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
6.5Unknown Dimension: The Story of Paranormal Activity(en)
A deep dive into the making of the Paranormal Activity films with first time ever interviews with cast and crew, never-before-seen footage from the movies, and a preview of the seventh installment in the franchise.


