Farewell. Brecht's last summer
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Farewell. Brecht's last summer |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2000 |
| length | 93 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jan Schütte |
| script | Klaus Pohl |
| production |
Jan Schütte Henryk Romanowski |
| music | John Cale |
| camera | Edward Kłosiński |
| cut | Renate Merck |
| occupation | |
| |
Farewell. Brecht's Last Summer is a German feature film from 2000 that focuses on the last hours of Bertolt Brecht's life .
action
The film is set in the GDR in the summer of 1956 . Bertolt Brecht is spending this summer in his summer house in Brandenburg in the small town of Buckow . It is the last day of vacation before Brecht has to return to Berlin to prepare for the new theater season of the Berliner Ensemble . All the important women from his life have come together in his summer house: his wife Helene Weigel and their daughter Barbara, his former lover Ruth Berlau and his current lover Käthe Reichel .
There is also the young couple Isot Kilian and Wolfgang Harich . Isot Kilian is also not immune to the rapprochements of the theater patriarch. The garden borders a small lake, where people swim. The group chats, eats and drinks, philosophizes about art, politics and the meaning of life. This is observed by the State Security , which wants to arrest the state critic Wolfgang Harich. Helene Weigel can stop them.
Above all of this lies the melancholy of parting. Brecht dies four days later in his apartment in Berlin.
background
The film was shot in the Polish city of Szczecinek in the summer of 1999 . The premiere of the film took place on May 14, 2000 during the Cannes International Film Festival 2000 within the Un Certain Regard section . The film was released in German cinemas on September 14, 2000.
Reviews
“When it came to the cast, Jan Schütte had the brilliant idea of having Sepp Bierbichler play Brecht. At first glance, he looks too massive, his physical presence seems stronger than the intellectual one: But this is precisely what makes the contradictions of this man even more serious, his illness always makes him look a bit conceited and allure - and makes it easier for the environment, Brecht's state of health to ignore. Bierbichler's optical dissimilarity also saves the film from the imitation effect that subliminally makes so many 'biopics' a bit strange. "
"A description of the state with theatrical dialogues, carried by an outstanding leading actor, which ultimately does not convince either as a poet portrait or as a study of lifelong love."
Web links
- Farewell. Brecht last summer in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Farewell. In: festival-cannes.com. Retrieved November 16, 2009 .