Alexandria - the hothouse of sin
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Alexandria - the hothouse of sin |
| Original title | Justine |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1969 |
| length | 116 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | George Cukor |
| script | Lawrence B. Marcus |
| production | Pandro S. Berman |
| music | Jerry Goldsmith |
| camera | Leon Shamroy |
| cut | Rita Roland |
| occupation | |
| |
Alexandria - Greenhouse of Sin (Original title: Justine ) is a 1968 American drama by George Cukor based on the novel Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell . Anouk Aimée plays Justine, Dirk Bogarde plays a British consular officer and Michael York plays the English teacher Darley, Justine's teenage lover.
action
The story takes place among European and Arab upper bourgeoisie in Alexandria in northern Egypt in 1938. The threats from the increasingly restless Europe shortly before the outbreak of World War II seem far away here in the seclusion of North Africa, but their effects are already palpable. The dark Justine is connected to a Coptic Christian, a very wealthy Egyptian banker, in a marriage marked by glamorous boredom . The elegant lady is as beautiful as she is enigmatic, and her personality captivates many people who move around her in a way that is as mysterious as it is magical. Justine has a strong influence on the fate of these people, including that of the young English teacher Darley, who soon falls irretrievably in love with the enigmatic lady of high society.
Hardly anyone suspects that Justine is pursuing her own goals behind the scenes of the growing political tensions in that region and forging corresponding political schemes. The attractive Jew is strongly committed to Zionism and tries to smuggle weapons into Palestine for the Jewish settlers who have been threatened by the Arab residents of the Palestinian League of Nations trusteeship area and who have mostly fled here from Europe. In doing so, it is clearly acting against the will of the British administrative power in the trust area. Darley soon finds out about Justine's goings-on. She gradually threatens to lose control of her actions, and soon she jeopardizes her political commitment with her erotic escapades and jealousy and endangers the risky arms smuggling company. Eventually, her underground work is exposed and Justine goes to jail. Her lover Darley returns to England disaffected.
Production notes, publication
Alexandria - Greenhouse of Sin was first created in Morocco, then in Tunisia (exterior shots), among other things on and in the magnificent Ennejma Ezzahra palace of Sidi Bou Saïd .
For the four-time Oscar winner and head cameraman Leon Shamroy , this was the last feature film he photographed. Jack Martin Smith designed the buildings, which were executed by William J. Creber . Walter M. Scott took care of the cinematographic equipment, Irene Sharaff designed the costumes .
The film is considered to be a little inspired commissioned and side work by old master Cukor ( The Lady of the Camellias with Greta Garbo ), who took over the direction of the director Joseph Strick , who was fired from 20th Century Fox , and accordingly met with very little approval from the critics.
The premiere of the film took place on August 6, 1969 in the USA, the German premiere was on September 26, 1969. The film was also released in 1969 in the United Kingdom, France, Finland, Mexico, Japan and Sweden and in 1970 in Denmark, Portugal and the Netherlands. In March 2006 the film was presented at the Belgrade Film Festival. It was also published in Brazil, Spain, Greece, Italy and Turkey.
synchronization
The German dubbed version was made by Berliner Synchron . Hermann Gressieker was responsible for the dialogue book and the dialogue direction.
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Justine | Anouk Aimée | Kerstin de Ahna |
| Pursewarn | Dirk Bogarde | Herbert Stass |
| Darley | Michael York | Christian Brückner |
| Narouz | Robert Forster | Fred Maire |
| Melissa | Anna Karina | Ursula Herwig |
| Pombal | Philippe Noiret | Horst Niendorf |
| Nessim | John Vernon | Christian Rode |
| Memlik Pasha | Michael Constantine | Friedrich Schoenfelder |
| owner | Abraham Sofaer | Curt Ackermann |
Reviews
The Movie & Video Guide said that the elegant film should hardly please fans of Lawrence Durrell's novel Alexandria Quartet , but that it works as an “exotic kitsch”. Halliwell's Film Guide found that the film had been "catastrophically evaporated" compared to the novel and that the atmosphere had been lost. "The result is like a bad rehearsal for a film."
“George Cukor tried to inject a few rebellions into the conventional literary adaptation; nevertheless a rather unsuccessful film ”, judged the Lexicon of International Films .
Kino.de spoke of a rather “uninspired commission” for one of “George Cukor's last films” and went on to say: “After he had accepted the direction rather without much enthusiasm, Cukor tried the by and large conventional literary film adaptation according to Lawrence Durrell to give some surprising undertones. Not always with success. "
Awards
- 1970 Laurel Awards nomination for the Golden Laurel Jerry Goldsmith with Music Man and Leon Shamroy for his work on camera
Web links
- Alexandria - Greenhouse of sin in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Alexandria - Greenhouse of Sin movie poster at postertreasures.com + another movie poster
- Alexandria - Greenhouse of Sin Fig. Title page New film program no. 5448 (pictured: Anouk Aimée, Michael York)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexandria - Greenhouse of Sin. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on August 11, 2018 .
- ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide . 1996 edition, p. 686.
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide . Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 550.
- ↑ Alexandria - Greenhouse of Sin. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 11, 2018 .
- ↑ Alexandria - Treibhaus der Sünde sS kino.de, accessed on September 25, 2018.