Light Darkness and Colour
1998 · 52 MIN · IMDB 7.8 · 55 VOTES · DIR. Marie Louise Lauridsen, Henrik Moetius
Overview
Using Goethe's Theory of Colors (Zur Farbenlehre) as point of departure, Light Darkness and Colors takes us on a fascinating journey through the universe of colors. In 1704, Sir Isaac Newton published Light and Refraction, his study of the interactions between sunlight and prisms. Newton was, as a good scientist, intent on achieving objectivity, which meant studying sunlight in isolation. He thought colors were contained solely in light, and found the spectrum he was looking for. When he reproduced this experiment, Goethe found another, hidden set of colors missed by Newton. Goethe found the hidden colors in the boundaries between light and darkness. He felt, as an artist, that one could not talk about light without including darkness. Calling it 'the light-darkness polarity', Goethe made this new scientific discovery using artistic methods in conjunction with science.
Dialogue Timeline — 417 lines
A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE
00:00:15 However well we get to know the world
00:02:03 In physics, colours can be measured
00:03:21 except for the part that is in the shade of the cone
00:04:46 and based his entire theory on man as an observer.
00:06:52 the complementary colours; the harmonic pairs of colours are situated opposite one another.
00:09:31 Crystals and raindrops can refract the light into all the colours of the rainbow.
00:11:31 Here are the colours only Goethe saw.
00:13:27 without pleasure or displeasure, without expectations or prejudice.
00:15:26 we only see them when they strike other planets.
00:17:12 In the darkness we find peace and quiet.
00:19:14 the grapes, sunflowers and other plants
00:23:13 that Goethe called 'Turbid'.
00:24:52 The denser the turbidsphere, the redder we see the sun.
00:26:27 We see the polarity of light and darkness
00:28:59 In the horizon at sunset we see the blues intensify towards the
00:31:48 We see both the colour intensification and polarity.
00:33:01 the violet androecium with its orange heads.
00:35:05 The sunlight passes through a small hole and strikes the opposite wall.
00:37:24 the yellow field, and the blue sky.
00:40:05 Newton presented a theoretical interpretation of the prism experiment
00:41:41 Yellow red below, blue violet above.
00:44:13 One of them was that colours arise where light and darkness meet.
00:46:09 Green forms the base of Goethe's colour wheel.
00:49:26 We are part of the world of colours and through them