Film Review: Tricky Disco
by Marinell Haegelin
Sebastian Weise, Germany 2022
The tricky thing about trying to trace any movement, particularly as elusive as techno and house music—both are electronic yet different—is it’s predisposed to fail because the growth of music’s popularity on one continent or another is variable worldwide. Undaunted, Sebastian Weise, working from his original script, is director-editor-producer of the 23:29 minute documentary and, it defies expectations. Narrowing his field Weise focuses on Germany’s major cities of Berlin and Frankfurt/Maine. TRICKY DISCO’s clever, catchy and “technoized” cinematic props caught, and although not a fan, held my attention throughout.
In 1998 a Frankfurt club’s closing due to real estate development made radio news; before long the “grapevine express” fed the information to networks of fans. A blow to the club scene, no doubt. Typically, techno clubs were as follows: The electronic sound came from two records being mixed together, tapes made between friends that became almost cult objects, the “castle simulation” where space is defined by the lighting, the motion of music and dancing bodies altering perceptions, appropriating space that’s “reterritorialized” eventually by the mainstream because society’s always looking for a new narrative. Plus, historical comparisons, private capital and local politics, pop culture’s devotional objects and looted goods. In Berlin, the vault door at Tresor (a vanguard techno club still) represented, personified pop culture, and made Berlin Techno the “hot spot,” attracting tourists. Each city boasted being the “first,” denying techno’s Black non-European roots—Detroit, Michigan.
Weise’s style is bibliographical with Paul Flynn’s fluctuating, moderate voiceover. Production values are sound, and archival footage provides a good ending. Remember that Frankfurt closing? It was Club Uhlman; overwhelmed with people, they put sound speakers outside in the street and it became a rave, i.e., power and control disturbing social order. Police were called and, fair dues, they shut the road and the beat continued.
