Moses and Aaron

Moses und Aron, known in English as Moses and Aaron, is a 1973 film by the French filmmaking duo of Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet based on the unfinished opera of the same title by Arnold Schoenberg. During its 1975 run at US festivals, it was also known as Aaron and Moses, and was frequently reviewed as such. It is one of three films based on Schoenberg works Straub and Huillet directed, the other two being Begleitungsmusik zu einer Lichtspielscene, a short film made directly before Moses und Aron, and, over two decades later, an adaptation of the one-act comic opera Von heute auf morgen. The film retains the unfinished nature of the original opera, with the third act consisting of a single shot (with no music) as Moses delivers a monologue based on Schoenberg's notes. The film was shot on location in Italy and Egypt. It utilized the same team of cinematographers as Straub and Huillet's Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach. The soundtrack and cast of the film is the same as the 1974 recording conducted by Michael Gielen (Philips 6700 084). The original German version of the film was dedicated to Holger Meins, the former cinematography student who joined a West German terrorist group in the early 1970s and died on hunger strike in prison. This dedication was censored by German broadcasters for the film's first transmission in 1975. The film was shown at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival, but was not entered into the main competition.