The Don Cossack Song (1956)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The Don Cossack Song |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1956 |
| length | 97 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Géza from Bolváry |
| script | Juliane Kay |
| production |
Kurt Ulrich for Berolina-Film |
| music | Friedrich Schröder |
| camera | Willi Sohm |
| cut | Ingrid Wacker |
| occupation | |
| |
The Donkosakenlied is a German homeland film by Géza von Bolváry from 1956.
action
After the death of his mother, little Peter lives with his older sister Helga with his adoptive father, Professor Hartmann. Peter has a serious heart condition, must not get upset and therefore, on the advice of his doctor Heinz Stark, no longer listen to music. He is also no longer allowed to hear his revered Don Cossacks , whose songs remind him of his Russian mother, on the radio. He is all the more pleased when the choir broke down on a tour with their director Serge Jaroff and their manager Rolf Bender not far from his home. While chauffeur Karl is repairing the bus, Peter sings the title The Evening Star for the choir , glowing before us - a song by his mother that the choir has never heard.
A few weeks later Rolf appears at Helga's to get the sheet music for the song. The choir wants to include the song in its program, but Helga only knows it from hearing. She follows Rolf to Munich to play the melody to Serge Jaroff. Rolf and Helga become a couple, although Helga actually loves her sandpit friend Heinz. However, his boss, Dr. Burger downright to get together with his daughter Edith, he hopes that the couple could continue to run their sanatorium . Soon, however, Helga and Heinz get together again because they are worried about Peter.
The Donkosaken want to give a concert in Munich, at which Peter's song will be heard for the first time. They invite him, but Helga forbids the sick Peter to attend the concert. Peter runs away from home and hitchhikes to Munich. Rolf finds him in the concert hall and lets him watch the concert from a box. When his song, now called Wetscherni Swon, is intoned, he sings the German lyrics out loud. The audience is thrilled, but Peter is completely exhausted by the excitement. Helga and Heinz, who went to Munich in search of him, bring Peter home. His condition is rapidly deteriorating. Soon he is bedridden and fantasizes about his mother who is waiting for him. In the end, Professor Hartmann has the Don Cossacks brought into his house. In front of the hospital room they tune in Vecherni Swon and Peter dies happily.
Some time later you see Helga and Heinz married. Heinz has given up work in the sanatorium and opened his own private practice.
In addition to the main storyline, there is a subplot about chauffeur Karl and his fiancée Anneliese. Anneliese has been playing the lottery for a long time , but Karl hasn't redeemed her bills for some time in order to use the money saved for the wedding rings. When Anneliese's numbers are drawn, she thinks she is rich. When Karl finally tells her the truth after a few shopping trips, there is initially a break, but through Rolf's mediation, in the end there is reconciliation.
production
The Donkosakenlied was filmed in Salzburg and at Tegernsee , among others . The interior shots were made in the Berlin Union-Film Studio.
The film had its world premiere on November 15, 1956 in the Düsseldorf Rex .
The film is dedicated to the Don Kosaken Chor Serge Jaroff , who plays a leading role in the film and appears himself. Under the direction of Serge Jaroff , the choir sings Otschi Tschjornyje , Kalinka and Wetscherni Swon several times .
criticism
In 1956, Der Spiegel wrote that "in the last third of the film [...] any suspicion that director Geza von Bolvary was caught up with a prankster who slipped him a Heimatfilm as a script idea".
On the occasion of the premiere, the film service found that various clichéd plot pieces were “glued together…” in the film. "All of this results in a color film for which a value judgment such as 'undemanding' would be flattering." With the film, Géza von Bolváry delivers "pure routine work".
The lexicon of international films published by film-dienst in 1990 called Das Donkosakenlied “a naive and sentimental film story that was randomly and violently put together from several schematic entertainment elements”.
Cinema rhymed: “Paul Hörbiger and Willy Fritsch / play supporting roles in this kitsch. Conclusion: children's kitsch with stench that ran far too often. "
Web links
- The Donkosakenlied in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Donkosakenlied at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ New in Germany: The Donkosakenlied . In: Der Spiegel . No. 50 , 1956, pp. 73 ( online ).
- ↑ CK: The Donkosakenlied . In: film-dienst , No. 47, 1956.
- ↑ Klaus Brüne (Ed.): Lexicon of International Films . Volume 2. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-499-16322-5 , p. 702.
- ↑ See cinema.de