May I say Petrushka to you?
May I say Petrushka to you? is a German feature film from the DEFA studio for feature films by Karl-Heinz Heymann from 1981 .
action
Peter stood on stage for the first time at the age of eight, passed the state examination as a dancer at the age of 18 and looks back on his previous life after another 20 years.
After signing his termination agreement at a theater in the GDR in order to venture a new beginning, he went to Berlin , dances here at the Komische Oper and was hired. During dance training he meets Charlotte, with whom he falls in love. When she asked him if she could say Petrushka to him, it was clear that she loved him too. It doesn't take long for both of them to get an apartment in an old building that they move into after the renovation. Two years later, Peter learns that he is getting a new, better contract because of his good performance, and Charlotte tells him that she is expecting a child.
After the birth of their son, they work together again and become more and more successful, so that they also take part in international competitions. But all of the work is beyond Charlotte's strength, and she becomes ill and even mentally collapses. During their stay in the hospital, the two of them write letters to each other assuring their love. Peter renovates the apartment, works a lot and takes care of the child. The first premiere after her recovery will be a great success. But now it's Peter who notices that dancing is getting harder and harder for him. Therefore, he cancels his contract with the theater at the end of the season.
The following ballet excerpts take up a large part of the film:
- Everyday life of Venus ( Günther Fischer )
- Nightmare of a ballerina ( Siegfried Matthus )
- The poorly protected daughter ( Ferdinand Hérold )
- La Mer ( Claude Debussy )
- Romeo and Juliet ( Sergei Prokofjew )
- Black birds ( Georg Katzer )
- Undine ( Hans Werner Henze )
- Modern variation (Günther Fischer)
Production and publication
May I say Petrushka to you? was filmed by the artistic working group "Red Circle" under the working title Seasons on ORWO -Color and had its world premiere as part of the XXV. Berliner Festtage on October 8, 1981 in the Berliner Kino International . The film was shown for the first time on October 7, 1982 in the second program on GDR television .
Frank Bey and Karl-Heinz Heymann were responsible for the scenario and the dramaturgy was in the hands of Dorothea Richter . Members of the TV ballet of the GDR and the dance theater of the Komische Oper Berlin danced . Olga Lepeschinskaja was responsible for the choreography .
The outdoor shots were shot in Berlin in the tunnel at the Zentralviehhof S-Bahn station , on the Weißen See and on Pankower Berliner Straße .
synchronization
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Peter | Frank Bey | Thomas Wolff |
| Lotte | Hannelore Bey | Ursula Werner |
criticism
Günter Sobe wrote in the Berliner Zeitung :
“Hannelore and Frank Bey dance and play in the main roles. The camera knows how to capture this impressively, and the possibility of being able to go on a 'tour' to the most distant village with it is probably the greatest possible benefit that the film brings. "
In New Germany Horst Knietzsch wrote :
“… Although we meet some great artists, experience some of the most beautiful original choreographies of the Komische Oper, a ballet film in the actual special sense is not 'Petrushka'. Rather, it is a film about people who do not live their lives, who devotedly serve a high ethical goal, who do not find success in their lap, but who work hard for it. "
In his review of the Neue Zeit , Helmut Ullrich said:
“But there is one thing missing in the film, for whose script the director and Frank Bey are jointly responsible - a workable plot. Only sketches, only underplayed personal conflicts in the story of the two young dancers Peter and Charlotte, of their love and marriage, of their mutual successes. Only hints of how difficult it is to combine an artistic profession (and one that is so strenuous, so enormously demanding at that) with a normal, happy family life. "
The lexicon of international films writes that the director's debut film is about dreams and everyday reality, life insights and life experiences of a famous dancer couple in an idiosyncratic artist portrait that integrates numerous ballet scenes from the Komische Oper Berlin into the plot.
literature
- F.-B. Habel : The great lexicon of DEFA feature films . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-349-7 , pp. 107 .
Web links
- May I say Petrushka to you? in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- May I say Petrushka to you? at filmportal.de
- May I say Petrushka to you? at the DEFA Foundation
Individual evidence
- ↑ Berliner Zeitung of October 10, 1981, p. 7
- ↑ Neues Deutschland, October 10, 1981, p. 4
- ↑ Neue Zeit of October 12, 1981, p. 4
- ↑ May I say Petrushka to you? In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 6, 2017 .