Jochen Kuhn’s animated film Der lautlose Makubra (The Silent Makubra) finds its roots in the classic genre of film noir. Here, Kuhn tells the story of the avenger Makubra, who is hired by a jealous husband to murder his unfaithful wife, who works in a night club. Kuhn paints, glues, collages, smears and overpaints the contents of the individual film sequences. He contrasts the gestural-expressive visual language with the sober tone of his narrative voice. The spoken words seem like an inner monologue which the author conducts with himself. In this way, the viewer simultaneously follows the genesis of the film, the consideration of locations, the development of the characters and the outline of the plot.
Kuhn does everything himself, from writing the script and painting the film to acting as the narrative speaker. He leaves only sound and editing to his long-time collaborator Olaf Meltzer. In 1981, Kuhn was awarded the German Film Prize for Der lautlose Makubra.
