Scene from the movie; RAW has just finished autographing books for fans.
Thanks to the kind efforts of Martin Wagner, I now know quite a bit about the German movie 23 Nichts ist so wie es scheint (in English, ""23 - Nothing is what it seems,") a 1998 German film about hacker Karl Koch. The film is available at the Internet Archive.
Martin points out that RAW appears in the movie, playing himself.
At RAW's Wikipedia entry you'll find an actor section, which says
Robert Anton Wilson appeared in the 1998 German film 23 Nichts ist so wie es scheint. He has approximately two minutes featured as himself, with the main actor, portraying hacker Karl Koch, meeting Wilson at the annual German Computer Hackers Convention in 1985. The film is a biographical piece about Germany's infamous computer hackers, and the 1985 meeting in Germany between Wilson and Koch is authentic. Wilson spoke at the 1985 German Computer Hackers Convention, warning of a future in which governments would have total digital control over the citizen. He signed one of his books for Koch. These events are depicted in the film.
RAW can be seen about 13 minutes into the film. There are scenes of the protagonist reading Illuminatus!
A clip which shows RAW speaking has been circulating on Twitter. Brian Dean (of RAW Semantics) noted it and wrote, "The embedded video here looks well-produced, but since I don't speak German, I don't know what they're saying (it's about RAW/Illuminatus, etc):"
I called Martin's attention to it on Twitter, and he has kindly supplied a translation:
00:08:59,500 --> 00:09:01,980
Something I want to show you...
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His associates found it in his desk.
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- 'National Research Award'...
Great haircut!
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- I won it when I turned 14.
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That's the author...
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Robert Anton Wilson
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- He looks strange.
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- Dad made a mistake...
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thought it was a kid's book.
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When he knew the truth, he confiscated it.
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Now it's all mine again.
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- "Nothing is true. Everything's permitted.
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World history is war between secret societies."
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- Wilson says the world isn't what it seems.
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A secret society controls all
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the Illuminati.
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But Hagbard Celine is a rebel,
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an anarchist on a submarine.
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From there he fights Illuminati.
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He has a computer on the a sub
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computing risk of World War III with simulations.
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- Mmmhm
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- Computer's named, "Fuck Up".
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- What?
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- Fuckup: First Universal Cybernetic Kinetic Ultra-micro Programmable
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If you want, I'll lend it to you.
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- I guess.
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"Reality at last, Ten bottles of wine, all empty too fast!"
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Pizza anyone?
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- End this now or I'll call the cops
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Alex
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- Who pissed on the mailboxes? What a mess!
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- Who's that whiner?
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- My landlord.
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My landlord says he'll call the cops. It's over. Go home.
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"Beate didn't take 'Illuminatus,'
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Alex only read parts on sex and drugs.
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He plain, 'didn't get it.'
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What Wilson's wrote about assassinations was riveting.
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I repeatedly read it, and sought other believers.
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BBS were populated by people like me.
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I got a computer and joined my peers.
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Just a simple computer.
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Only a Commodore, but it served my needs.
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I felt I discovered a new continent.
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I visited my global neighbors.
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It didn't take long to choose a name
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On a BBS where 'Illuminatus' was argued,
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I read Wilson would visit a Hamburg Chaos Computer Club meeting.
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Many computer freaks attended from all over Germany.
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Many were inert but some had skills.
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It's like converting a harmless child's toy into a bomb.
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'Scarabeus' hacked Frankfurt airport's flight arrival board
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'Conan' took-over Luxemburg's power grid.
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'Fishball' had an illegal mail server at GAC.
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Then there was 'David' from Hannover.
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His net-name was 'Goliath'.
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- We're now discovering that the true source of wealth
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is information, and it increases as it's shared.
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"Wilson said computers will revolutionize society.
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Information will be more important than money.
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Knowledge is power and will be controlled by few.
1 comment:
I saw this film on the big screen the year it came out, in Hollywood, when there was an "interesting films from Europe this year" festival. Something like that.
When I talked with RAW about Karl Koch he mentioned being in the film and wishing it would show in the US, because he hadn't seen it. I said I saw it and liked it a lot. Good subtitles.
I remember at one point the Koch character - possibly in voice-over - said he'd read Illuminatus! 80 times.
"YOU saw it?"
"Yea. In Hollywood."
"Well it didn't play in Santa Cruz."
(something like this)
He seemed momentarily annoyed about that.
I'm not sure if there's a DVD available formatted for the US. Is there? A while ago I looked at it seemed there wasn't.
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