Towards the light

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Movie
Original title Towards the light
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1918
length Fragment = ~ 15 minutes
Rod
Director Georg Jacoby
script Georg Jacoby,
Leo Lasko
production Paul Davidson
for Projektions-AG “Union”,
Image and Film Office
occupation

Against the Light is a German silent film in three acts by Georg Jacoby from 1918. It is one of the director's fragmentary films.

content

A soldier is buried in his shelter during the war. Groundwater penetrates and the soldier who cannot free himself from the destroyed shelter threatens to drown. Two soldiers fight their way to him with a rescue dog and are able to free him. The dog Senta used to belong to the soldier's rich fiancé, Ossi, whom Senta had handed over to the military and trained as a medical dog.

As a result of his experiences , the soldier suffers from a war neurosis that makes him blind. In a sanatorium , he hopes for a speedy recovery. Senta is with him when he sends Ossi a letter in which he wishes to see her again soon. Ossi is happy to hear from her fiancé and visits him with her father. When she found out about his blindness, she confirmed that she wanted to stay with him and lead him “towards the light”.

The soldier and Ossi return home. A little later the miracle happens: the soldier can see again. The last remaining shot of the film shows Senta, the medical dog.

production

Towards the light was shot in December 1917 and had its world premiere on April 1, 1918.

Anton Kaes wrote that Towards the Light is basically a propaganda film , as it shows a woman who stayed at home who heals the emotional wounds of her husband , who is returning from the First World War , through loyalty and understanding.

The censorship decisions by the Berlin Film Inspectorate show that the film was actually conceived as a promotional film for the German Association for Medical Dogs in Oldenburg . According to the censorship decisions received, the film closes with the appeal “Thank God for your eyesight! Help the poor blind soldiers! Give them guide dogs by donating to the Association of Medical Dogs! ”. Kaes also suspected that large parts of the film show the training of the dog Senta to become a medical dog.

Because of a possible “overstimulation of the youngsters' imagination”, especially in the scenes showing the buried soldiers, the film censorship banned Dem Licht from young people.

literature

  • The Wounded Soldier. In: Anton Kaes: Shell Shock Cinema. Weimar Culture and the Wounds of War. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2009, ISBN 978-0-691-03136-1 , pp. 8-10.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "a propaganda film at heart" Cf. Kaes, p. 9.
  2. ↑ See censorship decision April 22, 1925 ( Memento of November 29, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ See censorship decision April 15, 1925 ( Memento of November 29, 2004 in the Internet Archive )