[Joseonggwan's Global Humanities Journey] '9-Hour Wagner Film'... The North-South Unification War in World History

Donggeomdo Island in Ganghwa, where the tides play hide-and-seek with the mudflats. Here, where the magic of the tides unfolds, there is an art film theater dedicated to DRFA.

Not long ago, I watched a rare film with members of the Genius Table here. It was a 9-hour biographical film about Richard Wagner directed by Tony Palmer. Richard Burton played Wagner. The film started at 9 a.m. and was divided into segments of 2 hours 30 minutes, 2 hours 30 minutes, 1 hour 40 minutes, and 1 hour 40 minutes. Including breaks and lunch, the film ended after 7 p.m.

Poster of the "9-Hour Wagner Film," specially screened as the 10th anniversary work at DRFA, an art film theater dedicated to Ganghwa Island, on November 18.
Photo by Seonggwan Jo

I had previously covered Richard Wagner in "Geniuses Loved by Germany" and also lectured about him at the cultural salon "Genius Table," so after much consideration over several days, I decided to take on the challenge of the "9-hour Wagner film." And finally, I succeeded in watching the entire "9-hour Wagner film" without dozing off. I was proud of myself.

Thanks to my visits to Leipzig, Dresden, Weimar, Munich, Bayreuth... places where Wagner's traces remain in Germany, understanding the film was easier. Richard Burton's charismatic acting also greatly helped my immersion, needless to say.

While watching the film, I took notes throughout the 9 hours. (Otherwise, I would forget everything.) There were two reasons for my scribbled notes in the dark theater. One was the small facts I had missed despite having written a brief biography of Wagner, and the other was the facts I had known but had forgotten until now.

The "9-hour Wagner film" is a work with multiple layers. One of them is the perspective of a condensed history of 19th-century Germany. The film begins with the 1849 Dresden armed uprising. The first half of the composer's 70-year life is compressed into turmoil and hardship. While living in extreme poverty under the Parisian sky, the place that extended a helping hand was Dresden in the Kingdom of Saxony. There, where he spent his childhood, he took up the position of court conductor and ate warm meals for the first time. However, his wandering life began when he joined the anti-monarchist armed uprising led by anarchist Bakunin.

While living in Switzerland with the support of patrons, an unexpected savior appeared. It was Ludwig II, the 19-year-old young king of the Kingdom of Bavaria, who sent a personal letter. "I will provide everything, so come to Munich and focus solely on composing without worry."

Portrait of King Ludwig II displayed at the Munich Residenz Palace.
Photo by Seonggwan Jo

The character appearing in the third part of the film is King Ludwig II of the Kingdom of Bavaria. In the fourth part, the name of Otto von Bismarck, the Chancellor of Prussia, is frequently mentioned. Ludwig II, who became a worshipper of Wagner after watching the opera "Lohengrin" as a child, paid more attention to Wagner than to state affairs.

At that time, Germany was divided into 34 kingdoms and several duchies, including Bavaria, Saxony, Prussia, W?rttemberg, and Hesse, with ongoing conflicts and rivalries. The kingdoms formed alliances with surrounding powers such as Britain and France, each seeking to survive on their own. Some kingdoms and duchies allied with Britain even sent mercenaries during the American War of Independence. Others sided with France during the Napoleonic Wars.

When dividing Germany into north and south, the southern hegemony was held by the Kingdom of Bavaria. The threatening power to Bavaria from the northeast was Prussia. Bavaria and Prussia also clashed religiously. Due to the Thirty Years' War, Bavaria was Catholic, and Prussia was Lutheran.

During the 1866 Austro-Prussian War, Bavaria allied with Austria but was defeated. Bismarck of Prussia, emboldened by confidence, was preparing for a showdown with France. Ludwig II, who harbored strong resentment against Prussia, even considered supporting France. However, Bavaria remained neutral during the Franco-Prussian War. The film depicts Wagner as influencing Ludwig II's decisions.

The Franco-Prussian War ended in 1871 with Prussia's victory, completing German unification centered on Prussia. The northern power Prussia defeated the southern power Bavaria. Thus, the Second German Empire was born. Wagner witnessed German unification and passed away in Venice in 1883.

Looking at unification wars in world history, the north always won in conflicts between north and south. A representative example is the American Civil War (1861?1865).

Lincoln was the first Republican president. His pledge to abolish slavery led seven southern states?Texas, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and others?to secede from the United States. These seven states formed the Confederate States of America and attacked the North in 1861, sparking the Civil War. Tennessee, Arkansas, and four other states joined, making eleven southern states. The North, supporting abolition, had 23 states and dominated industrial production. Despite this, the war lasted four years, ending with the North's victory, enabling the formation of today's United States of America. Films about the Civil War, including "Cold Mountain," are too numerous to list.

A scene from the Civil War in the movie 'Cold Mountain'.

Italy had been divided without forming a unified state for over 1300 years since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476. It was split into the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont, Kingdom of Lombardy, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Duchy of Tuscany, and others, with ongoing conflicts. The Italian unification wars were complicated by the involvement of neighboring powers France and Austria. Notably, the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont and the Lombardy-Venetia Kingdom were bitter enemies.

Marco Polo, son of a Venetian merchant, left home for 24 years to stay in the East and returned in 1298. Shortly after, the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Genoa fought naval battles over Mediterranean maritime supremacy. Marco Polo, fighting for Venice, was captured when Venice was defeated and imprisoned in Genoa. In Genoa's prison, he met Rustichello, a writer of chivalric adventure tales. After release, Rustichello wrote Marco Polo's adventures as "The Travels of Marco Polo."

The Italian unification wars culminated in the Second Italian War of Unification when the industrialized northern Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont conquered the long-time enemy Lombardy-Venetia. The capital of the unified kingdom was moved from Milan in the north to Florence in the center. However, southern Italy, including Sicily, resented the unified kingdom. Eventually, the republican Garibaldi led his army to annex Sicily and other southern regions, completing Italian unification. The films "The Leopard" and "The Storm of Summer" are set against the backdrop of the Italian unification wars. Both were directed by Luchino Visconti, with "The Leopard" praised for its historical accuracy.

France, engaged in colonial struggles with Britain, colonized Indochina from 1849. Thailand was a buffer zone, with France controlling the east and Britain the west. French territories included Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam (Tonkin, Annam, Cochinchina).

The film "The Lover" is set during the period when Vietnam was a French colony. It tells the love story between a poor French teenage girl and a wealthy Chinese man in his thirties. Legendary photojournalist Robert Capa died in Vietnam in 1954. He was killed by a landmine while covering French troops fighting the Vietnamese communist forces.

On May 25, 1954, French troops walking from Nam Dinh to Thai Binh in Vietnam. Shortly after taking this photo, Robert Capa stepped on a landmine and died.
Photo by PHAIDON

After gaining independence from France, Vietnam was divided north and south along the 18th parallel. North Vietnam was communist, and South Vietnam was a liberal democracy. Despite overwhelming U.S. support, the Vietnam War ended with South Vietnam's defeat. Saigon, captured by North Vietnamese communist forces in 1975, was later renamed Ho Chi Minh City. The city center still bears traces of French colonialism, such as the Central Post Office designed by Gustave Eiffel.

Yemen, located at the entrance of the Red Sea on the southern Arabian Peninsula, was divided into North Yemen and South Yemen until May 1990. The liberal democratic North Yemen unified with the communist South Yemen to form present-day Yemen.

Turning to the Korean Peninsula, although the people are the same, since 1948 South and North Korea have diverged as much as heaven and earth. Communist North Korea has become one of the worst human rights violators, while liberal democratic South Korea has transformed into an economic and cultural powerhouse. We confirmed this once again during the South-North Korea soccer match at the Hangzhou Asian Games. South Korean players, raised in freedom and prosperity, looked different even in facial features compared to the large North Korean players raised under oppression and poverty. Satellite images of the Korean Peninsula at night make everything starkly clear.

Through the "9-hour Wagner film," I unexpectedly revisited the history of unification wars around the world. It seems this film will remain memorable for 2023.

Author and Genius Researcher, Jo Seong-gwan

Operator of "Genius Table," former editor-in-chief of Weekly Chosun