Dällebach Kari (film)

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Movie
German title The strange life of Karl Tellenbach
Original title Dallsbach Kari
Country of production Switzerland
original language Bern German
Publishing year 1970
length 109 minutes
Rod
Director Kurt Früh
script Kurt Früh
Kurt Marti
production Peter Hellstern
Martin Hellstern
music Tibor Kasics
camera Fritz E. Maeder
cut Georg Janett
occupation

Dällebach Kari is a Swiss dialect film by Kurt Früh from 1970.

action

The film deals with the life of the Bernese city original Karl Tellenbach , who worked as a master hairdresser in Bern at the beginning of the 20th century. The film begins with a chanson by the Bern troubadour Mani Matter , who summarized the tragic life of Dällebach Kari up to his suicide in three stanzas , followed by scenes from Dällebach's funeral and the funeral meal, part of a fictional funeral sermon is read out. Then, at Dällebach's request, the folk song set to music by Friedrich Silcher is sung when the little flowers tremble outside . The melancholy song is about a man who is about to lose his beloved and can be related to Dällebach's life in many ways.

This is now told in a large-scale analepse . Although the narrative is divided into individual episodes, a coherent plot is achieved with recurring locations, people and motifs. The focus is on Dällebach's social isolation. This is due to the fact that he was teased and laughed at because of his harelip and his speech mistake from an early age and began to tell jokes and stories as a defensive reaction. In nostalgic flashbacks, Dällebach remembers his youth, the folksong mentioned and especially his childhood sweetheart Annemarie Geiser. Love failed because of the differences in class between families. Dällebach, a notorious drinker, finds his lover's house in a drunk state, calls her name and is arrested for disturbing the peace. Annemarie writes to him that she wants to see him again. This reunion fails twice: The first time Dällebach is drunk and collapses before the rendezvous. The second meeting failed Kari because it an acquaintance in a village in the Romandie can sit to get back at a prank on him.

The film is also rich in humor. Numerous comic episodes about the Bern original were built into the film. For example, Dällebach shaves a Swiss cross in the hairstyle of a Basel National Councilor, who is posing for an election portrait in the salon of the famous original . Dällebach thinks that everyone can see that patriotism is even growing into a «gring» (head) for the National Council .

Cancer soon joins Dällebach's unfulfilled love, his longing for adolescence and increasing social isolation, and he also suffers from ridicule and constant teasing. He hears voices and songs from the past. One night Dällebach sneaks up to a bridge, where he takes off his shoes and hangs over the railing. The camera does not show his jump, however, but wanders away. More stanzas from Matters Chanson can be heard.

background

Kurt Früh wrote the screenplay based on the Tellenbach biography by Hansruedi Lerch , which was published in 1968. The film was made in August and September 1970. The main location and location of the plot is the old town of Bern. Due to the electrical devices that can be seen, the time of the action can be assumed to be between 1930 and 1960. For these reasons, Kurt Früh, who became famous as a director of Biedermeier Swiss city films in the 1950s, probably shot the film in black and white.

The main actor Walo Lüönd was provided with a harelip using a hook from dental medicine. This made it difficult for him to speak. This and the fact that he learned excellent Bern German during the short filming made it possible for him to synchronize his role himself.

The film has significantly increased the popularity of the figure, who is already known throughout Switzerland as a joke-teller and original. In 2010 and 2012 musicals about the Dällebach material were performed on Swiss stages with great success .

interpretation

The film is one of Kurt Früh's most poetic films, with its humorous swing, but with a very melancholy undertone. The tragedy of a mocked and misunderstood individual who is marginalized from society unnoticed and driven into psychological crisis is portrayed in bittersweet tones. One of the poetic elements is the recurring folk song When the flowers tremble outside , which Dällebach especially loves in memory of his youth.

The counterpart to this melancholy nostalgia is the rather eerie appearance of an obviously mentally confused vagabond. He visits Dällebach once in his salon to see his harelip. It is noticeable that Dällebach meets the tramp on the streets of Bern, and he always rolls his eyes and calls out the names "Dällebach" and "Annemarie". He also makes mocking allusions to Dällebach's death twice. The tramp is also perceived as a figure by third parties, but due to his phantom-like appearance and his prophetic blasphemies can also be interpreted as a personification of Dällebach's psychological distress, at best as a sign of creeping madness.

Reviews

«Dialect film about the life of the quick-witted Bernese master hairdresser and original Karl Dällenbach (1877–1931). Lengths and cliché caricatured supporting roles somewhat impair the effect of the film, which is impressive in detail. Excellent Walo Lüönd in the title role, who makes the tragedy of the speech-impaired outsider clearly visible. "

- Lexicon of international film

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dällebach Kari. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used