Manu Riche & Patrick Marnham
Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands | 2012 | 75 min
Languages : English, French
Subtitle : English
Western civilization has shaped the world by creating the first weapon of mass destruction. Filmmaker Manu Riche and writer Patrick Marnham embark on a cross-cultural journey that retraces the events leading up to the making of the H bomb. Through the writings of art historian Aby Warburg, Snake Dance composes a filmic essay of a world that now more than ever is on the verge of complete destruction.
The 20th century was moulded by the invention of the atomic bomb. Thus western civilization has radically shaped the modern world in creating the very first weapon of mass destruction. But what led to the concept itself of a weapon so powerful that it could destroy not only whole cities but also its own creators? Filmmaker Manu Riche and writer Patrick Marnham embark on a journey that does not simply focus on the historical events that led to the making of the bomb, but literally crosses through the history of the 20th century. Lives and events intersect as the focus of the film moves from a uranium mine in the Congolese rain forest to the high desert of New Mexico where the atomic bomb was constructed, up to earthquake-stricken Japan’s Fukushima area. All these different threads are woven together in an unexpected way. Through the writings of Aby Warburg, the celebrated cultural theorist and art historian who devoted most of his studies to the importance of myth in the modern world, Snake Dance composes a fascinating filmic essay of a world that now more than ever is on the verge of complete destruction.
GIONA A. NAZZARO