Albert Schweitzer (1957)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Albert Schweitzer |
| Original title | Albert Schweitzer |
| Country of production | USA , France |
| original language | English , French , German |
| Publishing year | 1957 |
| length | 106 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jerome Hill |
| script |
Albert Schweitzer Thomas Bruce Morgan |
| production | Jerome Hill |
| music | Alec Wilder |
| camera | Erica Anderson |
| cut | Luke Bennett |
| occupation | |
| |
Albert Schweitzer is a US-French documentary by Jerome Hill about the life and work of the famous jungle doctor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Albert Schweitzer . It is a personal life report, for which Schweitzer wrote the text himself and (in the German version) also spoke.
action
On a Sunday morning, young Albert Schweitzer was persuaded by another village boy to shoot birds with a sling. Just as he is cocking the sling, the church bells begin to ring. He throws the sling away and hurries home. This key experience leads him to the conviction that man can only bring death and suffering to another being of God's creation if there is an inescapable need for it.
In the 21-year-old theology student , the decision matures to live the preaching office, science and music up to the age of thirty and then to follow the path of immediate service. After having worked successfully as a pastor, organist, university professor and writer for several years, he is still studying medicine. At the age of 38, he left his home to build a hospital in Lambarene in French Equatorial Africa in the middle of the jungle.
More than 40 years have now passed. In Strasbourg , Schweitzer is once again preparing one of his many trips to Africa. He packs what he has obtained from donations: medicines, tools, dishes and clothing. The camera follows him down the Gironde , through the Bay of Biscay to the African coast, via Dakar up the Ogowe River to Lambarene.
Everyday life in Schweitzer's adopted home: an assistant to the jungle doctor calls the ambulatory sick to the doctors and nurses with a fanfare . Schweitzer visits the seriously ill himself. There is always building going on. A new ward for 250 lepers is being built. Sometimes a tornado chases the craftsmen from their jobs and destroys what has just been built. In the evening, Schweitzer relaxes on his piano with an organ pedal.
Most recently, the film shows the 80-year-old visiting his homeland in Alsace. In the Günsbach village church, he sits at the organ that was built according to his specifications and plays works by Johann Sebastian Bach .
background
The production company for Albert Schweitzer's plant in Lambarene determined the net income from the film. The young Schweitzer was played by his grandson; Schweitzer's mother from his sister. Schweitzer had forbidden the producers to mention in the film the honors that had been bestowed upon him in his long life. Even at church services, which he regularly held in Lambarene, it was not allowed to film.
criticism
"Despite its simplicity, it is very impressive"
“Thanks to its strong documentary quality, this great cinematic life story is ideally suited to familiarize us with the person and work of the great researcher and benefactor. Albert Schweitzer himself wrote the commentary on this film and thus created a document of particular validity that should not be missed. "
Awards
The film received in 1958 the Oscar as Best Documentary .
source
- Illustrierte Film-Bühne No. 3976, United Publishing Companies Franke & Co. KG Munich.
Web links
- Albert Schweitzer in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Lexicon of International Films . rororo-Taschenbuch Nr. 6322, 1988, p. 74.
- ↑ gep.de: Film of the Month February 1958 ( Memento from September 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive )