Copernicus (film)

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Movie
Original title Copernicus
(Kopernik)
Country of production GDR , People's Republic of Poland
original language German , Polish
Publishing year 1973
length 138 minutes
Rod
Director Czeslaw Petelski
Ewa Petelska
script Czeslaw Petelski
Ewa Petelska
production DEFA , KAG "Red Circle"
Film Polski, Group "Iluzjon"
music Jerzy Maksymiuk
camera Stefan Matyjaszkiewicz
cut Felicja Rogowska
occupation

Copernicus ( Kopernik ) is the German-Polish co-production of a film biography by the DEFA studio for feature films and Przedsiebiorstwo Realizacji Filmów (PRF) `` Zespoly Filmowe '', group `` Iluzjon '' by Czeslaw Petelski and Ewa Petelska from 1973 .

action

In a Nuremberg printing house in 1543 Georg Joachim Rhetyk looked at the recently printed work of the scholar Mikolaj Kopernik De revolutionibus orbium coelestium , which was being prepared for publication. He finds passages that do not match the manuscript. During a conversation with the editor Andreas Osiander and the printer's owner , Master Johannes Petreius , he describes the work with the changes that have not been agreed as a forgery. With this scene the review of the life of Mikolaj Kopernik begins.

Kopernik has a visit from his cousin Anna Schilling, the daughter of the goldsmith and mint maker Mats Schilling. In the conversation with her he mentions that he would like to return to Frauenburg , his home. The young Anna, who loves him, offers to accompany him as a housekeeper and cheats that her father has already given his consent. Since the latter cannot refuse his daughter's wish to accompany the much older man, she drives with Kopernik to Frauenburg, runs his household there and supports him in his scientific work. On the occasion of the sixth anniversary of their meeting, Anna confesses her love to him and the two become a couple. When Mikolaj and Tiedemann Giese were once again exchanging spiritual and scientific views, Kopernik explained to his relative and friend that he was very happy, by which he meant his relationship with Anna.

A hard cut leads the viewer into the youth that Nikolaus and his brother Andrzej Kopernik spent with his uncle Lukasz Watzenrode , the bishop of Warmia . In 1491 he sent them both to Krakow to study . After the death of King Casimir IV Andreas in 1492, at whose funeral they take part, they go on vacation to their uncle, who makes it clear to them that he knows more about them than they think. So they get to hear that Andrzej likes to take part in games of chance, drinking bouts and fights, while Mikolaj does not like it when he is asked about his spiritual attitudes. A subsequent check of the luggage reveals that Andrzej has several drawings of naked women as well as many love letters, while Mikolaj finds several scientific books on the stars. Lukasz Watzenrode gives Mikolaj to understand that he can think what he wants, the main thing is that he has mastered canon law . The uncle is concerned with his successor as bishop, for which he wants to choose one of his nephews and he hopes to be able to influence the election. Back in Cracow in 1497, Mikolaj calculated a solar eclipse much more accurately than his teachers and other scholars, which makes him proud. But his brother warns him not to make it public, because the common people in the city are cruel against infidels and heretics, which he proves in a citizen who has just been lynched and his destroyed house. A teacher from Mikolaj explains to him that it was not the people who killed the man, but their ignorance. Here he hears for the first time the sentence that will have a strong influence on his future life: It is the business of mankind to search for the truth.

Again it goes back to the already aged Mikolaj Kopernik in the year 1539. The bishop of Warmia Jan Dantyszek , one of Lukasz Watzenrode's successors, receives one of his spiritual informers, who tells him that the doctor Kopernik did not send his concubine away and also his niece Krystina has brought to her, who is interspersed with Lutheran thoughts. There are also other allegations against Kopernik, which the informer, a Catholic clergyman, is also supposed to clarify on behalf of the bishop. So he summons Anna Schilling and demands of her to swear on the Bible that she has not violated Christian virtues, which she refuses. Anna separates from Mikolaj in deep sadness because she cannot expect any support from him.

Another look back leads to the year 1503. At the University of Ferrara , Mikolaj Kopernik was awarded a doctorate in canon law ( Doctor iuris canonici ). During a subsequent festival with high dignitaries organized by Cardinal Hipolit d'Este , Kopernik claims that the earth is a sphere, which was proven by Spanish sailors who reached India from the west as well as from the east. When the cardinal heard of these heretical remarks, he asked Copernic to justify these views, which he tried with a lecture that ended with the statement that the distance between the moon and the earth was always the same. The Cardinal then lets Kopernik sit down on his throne and asks him whether one can see the mobility of the earth from this point in order to then lead him through his torture cellar , with which he wants to show where such utterances can lead.

In 1510 , Mikolaj Kopernik , who has meanwhile been appointed administrator , becomes chancellor of the cathedral chapter of Ermland for the first time. Shortly before that, he and his brother Andrzej returned to his uncle Lukasz Watzenrode, who had to abandon his plan to propose Andrzej as his successor because he was suffering from leprosy . While Andrzej travels back to Italy because of the better treatment options, the conflict between the Teutonic Order and the Prussian Confederation intensifies in Warmia . This is the time frame for the death of Bishop Lukasz Watzenrode in Thorn in 1512 , who during his lifetime did not dare to ask the Polish king for support in the disputes. Nikolaus' task as administrator is now to organize the defense of Warmia after several places have already fallen into the hands of the Teutonic Order. With the support of the Polish King Sigismund I , he succeeds in gathering armed forces in the city of Allenstein, which is overcrowded with refugees , and successfully defends it.

production

In Poland, the 70 mm version of the color film premiered on February 12, 1973 in the hometown of Nicolaus Copernicus Thorn on the occasion of his 500th birthday.

The GDR premiere in a total vision version took place on February 15, 1973 in the Kosmos cinema in Berlin . The first broadcast in the first program of the East German television was broadcast on April 12, 1974.

The scenario was in the hands of Jerzy Broszkiewicz and Zdzislaw Skowronski and Günter Karl was responsible for the dramaturgy . The musical performers were the Warsaw Great Theater Choir and the National Symphony Orchestra of Polish Radio from Katowice.

criticism

In the Neue Zeit , HU noted:

“It must appear problematic that this biography does not follow the chronological order, that it jumps back and forth between episodes from youth, the mature years and the age of Copernicus. A compelling reason for this dramaturgy cannot be recognized; To many viewers it may just seem confusing. "

In New Germany , Horst Knietzsch wrote:

“'Copernicus' is a film of cinematographic culture. Impressive scenic arrangements with dramatic arcs of tension, in which the philosophical and ethical conflicts of this unusual person become visible, are able to trigger the audience's sympathy. "

The lexicon of international films is of the opinion that this film is a representation of the time around the year 1500 with the intellectual currents, disputes and political power struggles, which was dealt with very extensively in terms of subject matter and objectives. However, some prior knowledge is required, as the complex assembly technology makes it difficult to understand.

Awards

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Berliner Zeitung of January 13, 1973, p. 6
  2. ↑ Neue Zeit of February 21, 1973, p. 4
  3. ↑ Neues Deutschland, February 17, 1973, p. 4
  4. ↑ Copernicus. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 24, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used