The basic concept is to make a short film (15min) based on the text of Oswald Spengler’s book «The Decline Of The West» This book was published in two volumes between 1918 and 1922; This book has been described as the world’s longest love poem, It has also been described as the most pessemistic book ever written.`

"There are no eternal truths. Every philosophy is the expression of its own and only its own time, and... no two ages possess the same philosophic intentions» Oswald Spengler – The Decline Of The West

"The future of the West is not a limitless tending upwards and onwards for all time towards our presents ideals, but a single phenomenon of history, strictly limited and defined as to form and duration, which covers a few centuries." Oswald Spengler – The Decline Of The West

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Spengler’s work deals with philosophy art religion Politics economy all to prove his theory that Civilizations, like everything in nature, go through a beginning, a middle and an end, and have a life cycle just as we all have. Whether it be a life cycle spanning centuries or the life cycle of a single man, Spengler believed everything is bound by the same universal laws. The idea of the macrocosm of world history and the microcosm of human existence being bound by the same rules, inspired me.

I would like to make a film where both these histories are shown side by side on the screen at the same time. Just as in the modern world, where we are bombarded on all sides with images and it is difficult to see on the bigger picture, When we are so caught up in our own lives so it will be in this film.

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A voice over reading excerpts from the text of «The Decline Of The West»: will run throughout the film and this voice over along with the original musical score will hopefully juxtapose and harmonise the dual images on the screen

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"For primitive man the word ‘time‘ can have no meaning. He simply lives without any necessity of specifying an opposition to something else.He has time, but he knows nothing of it. All of us are conscious, as being aware of space only and not of time. «Time,» is a discovery, which is only made by thinking." Oswald Spengler – The Decline Of The West

The first film is an art-house film inspired by 1950’s documentaries from the Nouvelle Vague in France like Alain Resnais’, Chris Marker’s « Statues Also Die » (Les statues meurent aussi). Spengler often uses architecture in his work to explain his theories and we will be focusing on Architecture

This film shot with a fixed camera will run roughly from about 1000bc to the present day.

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"All art is mortal, not merely the individual artifacts but the arts themselves. One day the last portrait of Rembrandt and the last bar of Mozart will have ceased to be, though possibly a coloured canvas and a sheet of notes may remain, because the last eye and the last ear accessible to their message will have gone." Oswald Spengler – The Decline Of The West

The second film is basically a very fancy holiday film. With the rise of the digital generation and the fact that technology is much cheaper and much more advanced than before we see very very slick holiday videos. The docu-fiction part of this film is a couple on holiday on a long european vacation who record their travels the people they meet the things they come across ect

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"When the ordinary thought of a highly cultivated people begins to regard«having children» as a question of pro’s and cons, the great turning-point has come" Oswald Spengler – The Decline Of The West

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On reading Spengler’s book, i knew i had to make this film in Turkey. Turkey was an integral part of ancient Greece and Rome and Classical ruins can be found throughout the country.

Istanbul used to be known as Constantinople, and was the capital of Byzantine empire, before becoming the capital of the Ottoman Empire and as a modern european city , has much of the modernist architecture that we ascociate with Western Civilization Turkey is also good for the second film, it is a vast and varied country, over a thousand miles from east to west. And it has a very large coast line and a very nice climate it has wondeful food a rich culture and a rich history.Over the years it has become a very sophisticated choice for westen europeans as a holiday destination to explore and enjoy.

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THE DECLINE

The publications