A look at the life and work of groundbreaking German sculptor and performance artist Joseph Beuys.

A sculptor, teacher, political activist, pioneering environmentalist, self-styled shaman, alleged charlatan and proven liar, Beuys was among the greatest postwar artists. Thirty years after his death, Beuys still seems to be a visionary ahead of his time. The film shows him patiently explaining how “money shouldn't be a commodity”, knowing that the money trade would eventually undermine democracy, as well as boxing, lecturing and explaining pictures to a dead hare. He asks with a grin: “Do You Want a Revolution Without Laughter?“ His expanded concept of art leads him straight into the middle of socially relevant debate today.

Using a montage of previously untapped visual and audio sources, director Andreas Veiel and his team have created a one-of-a-kind chronicle. Beuys is not a portrait in the common sense, but instead an intimate look at a human being, his art and his incredible world of ideas.

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