Asterix and Cleopatra (film)

Movie
German title	Asterix and Cleopatra
Original title	Astérix and Cléopâtre
Country of production	France , Belgium
original language	French
Publishing year	1968
length	69 minutes
Age rating	FSK 6
Rod
Director	René Goscinny , Lee Payant , Albert Uderzo
script	Jos Marissen , Eddie Lateste , Pierre Tchernia
production	Raymond Leblanc
music	Gérard Calvi
camera	Jean Midre , François Léonard , Georges Lapeyronnie
cut	László Molnár , Jacques Marchel
synchronization
chronology
←  Predecessor Asterix the Gaul Successor  → Asterix conquers Rome

Asterix and Cleopatra (original title: Astérix et Cléopâtre ) is the second Asterix cartoon from 1968, based on the comic book of the same name by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo . From October 3, 1986, the film was shown in the movie theaters of the GDR. In 2002, the real-life adaptation of Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra was made based on the same template.

action

There is a wager between Cleopatra , the beautiful ruler of Egypt , and Julius Caesar , the Roman emperor . Caesar claims that the Egyptian people have become decadent . The offended ruler does not want to let this claim sit on her. She replies that her people can build a magnificent palace in Alexandria within three months . Caesar accepts the bet with amusement. The architect Numerobis was commissioned to build the palace . Should it be successful, it would be showered with gold, but if it failed, it would be thrown to the crocodiles to eat.

Unfortunately, Numerobis does not seem gifted as an architect, many of his buildings are crooked and shaky shacks and the residents of Alexandria make fun of him. Therefore, the project seems impossible to him within just three months. He decides to travel to Gaul to ask his old friend, the druid Miraculix , for help. He agrees to help and, accompanied by Asterix and Obelix, travels to Egypt. Once there, there are all kinds of adversities with Numerobis' rival, the devious and envious Pyradonis .

Pyradonis and his accomplice Schraubziris try in various ways to sabotage the construction work on the palace . First Pyradonis incited the workers until they went on strike. When Miraculix brews a magic potion and distributes it to the workers, they are motivated again and construction is progressing quickly. Now screw ziris is supposed to travel to the quarries in the south to bribe the supervisor of the quarries. The supervisor then has all the stone blocks sunk in the Nile. When Numerobis notices that his stone block supply has run dry, Asterix and Obelix immediately suspect and travel to the quarries with Miraculix. On the way there they pass the pyramids of Giza , where Obelix the Sphinx breaks off his nose. Screw ziris wants to seize the opportunity and offers itself as a tourist guide . He lures the three into one of the pyramids, the interior of which hides a labyrinth. While the unsuspecting heroes admire the innermost chamber, screw ziris locks them up. The group of heroes still find their way out because Obelix took his dog Idefix with him and he was waiting in front of the pyramid entrance. Asterix catches up with zirconia and pushes him to Pyradonis' house with an aimed hook on the chin.

Pyradonis then hires pirates who are supposed to board and sink the transport ships. Unfortunately, the pirates are old acquaintances of the Gauls and when the pirates see the Gauls, they panic themselves. Asterix now transports the pirate captain back to Pyradonis' home. But the latter does not give up, he bakes a poisoned cake with screw zirconia and has it brought to Cleopatra in the name of the Gauls. When the queen's food taster collapses in pain, Asterix, Obelix and Miraculix are arrested and put in jail. They break out again immediately and confront the queen. Thanks to Miraculix's antidote, the three can eat the cake unscathed, heal the taster and thus convince Cleopatra of her innocence. The Queen immediately gives them their freedom back. The three heroes go to Pyradonis' house, grab the two culprits and make them work on the palace.

Julius Caesar is now irritated and outraged by the unusually rapid progress of the palace construction. He finds that this is because of the support from the Gauls. So he has Miraculix kidnapped, but Asterix and Obelix free the druid again. When the Romans besieged the construction site and bombarded the palace with catapults in order to sabotage the work, Cleopatra put a stop to the goings-on on site and in person and dissolved the siege. Thanks to the magic potion, the Egyptian workers can finally finish the palace and Cleopatra wins the bet. In thanks for the help, the ruler lets the heroes travel home on her private galley.

Reviews

The lexicon of international films says that the film has "numerous gags in pictures and words, fluid animation and rapid pace" and is "an all-round successful Asterix film". Cinema wrote that the “second Asterix film” was true “the ironic joke of the comics”, and drew the conclusion: “Family fun with cute musical interludes.” The Protestant film observer also comes to a positive verdict: “Funny and amusing cartoon, full of irony and Ingenuity. The childish viewers will not notice some of the dry joke, but they will still have a good time with the rest. To be recommended for visitors of all ages with a sense for such film fun. "

synchronization

role	Original speaker	German version (1970)	New Hessian version (2001)
Asterix	Roger Carel	Hans Hessling	Michael Quast
Obelix	Jacques Morel	Edgar Ott	Heinz Werner Kraehkamp
Miraculix	Lucien Raimbourg	Klaus W. Krause	Jochen Nix
Cleopatra	Micheline Dax	Ursula Herwig	?
Julius Caesar	Serge Sauvion	Siegfried Schürenberg	Joachim Höppner
Numerobis	Pierre Tornade	Walter Bluhm	Michael Habeck
Pyradonis	Bernard Lavalette	Martin Hirthe	Hartmut Neugebauer
Majestix	Pierre Tornade	Otto Czarski	Michael Rüth
Quarry Overseer	Pierre Trabaud	Jochen Schröder	?
Screw zircon	-	Klaus Miedel	Mogens von Gadow
teller	René Goscinny	Joachim Cadenbach	Andreas Neumann
Taster	-	Erich Fiedler	Thomas Albus
Centurion	-	Heinz Giese	Manfred Erdmann
Pirate captain	Pierre Trabaud	Franz Nicklisch	Peter Musäus

Some of the vocal scenes were taken over from the original dubbing in the dialect version.

literature

• Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny: Asterix and Cleopatra. Ehapa-Verlag (2004), ISBN 3-7704-0002-X or ISBN 978-3-7704-0002-7 .

Web links

• Asterix and Cleopatra in theInternet Movie Database(English)
• Asterix and Cleopatra in the online film database
• Asterix and Cleopatra atRotten Tomatoes(English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Asterix and Cleopatra. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .  
2. ↑ cf. cinema.de
3. ↑ Evangelical Press Association Munich, Review No. 134/1970.