The lightship (1963)

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Movie
Original title The lightship
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1963
length 84 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Ladislao Vajda
script Curt Siodmak based
on the story of the same name by Siegfried Lenz
production Hermann Schwerin
for Fono-Film GmbH, Berlin
music Peter Sandloff
camera Heinz Pehlke
cut Hermann Ludwig
occupation

Das Feuerschiff is a German feature film by Ladislao Vajda from 1962. The material is based on the story of the same name by Siegfried Lenz .

action

Captain Freytag is a monosyllabic, indomitable and principled man who conscientiously does his duty on a lightship lying in the North Sea. This time he took him on the ship to show his son Fred his work on site. Shortly afterwards, three castaways are seen floating on a boat in the cloudy North Sea. Freytag brings people on board with a lifeboat. He soon realizes that this was a serious mistake, because it concerns three unscrupulous bank robbers who have escaped with their prey on the water while fleeing the police. Your leader, a certain Dr. Caspary, is a cold, well-mannered criminal who knows exactly what he wants.

He demands help from the captain. Sometimes the leaky boat should be repaired, then Freytag should bring out his own boat, which he absolutely needs in order to get ashore himself. Finally, the gangsters demand that the position of his lightship be changed so that the pursuers cannot make them out. Captain Freytag remains true to principle to the point of stubbornness, he does not fear death and does not want to endanger other ships by changing the position of the lightship. When Caspary begins to threaten the lives of the crew held hostage, the men on the lightship want to take action and overpower the gangsters. Freytag is deeply convinced against violence, also at the risk that his own son will consider him a coward. The situation on board escalates when Caspary tries to win over parts of the crew through bribery and threats. Ultimately, there is a shootout in which Freytag has to pay for his loyalty to principles with his life. Before they can escape, the gangsters are overpowered and arrested.

Production notes

The lightship was built from October 9 to December 4, 1962 in the vicinity of Malmö , in Copenhagen and in the film studio in Berlin-Tempelhof . The premiere took place on March 5, 1963 in Stuttgart .

The film structures were made by Johannes Ott and Wilhelm Vierhaus, while Hans Wolff was in charge of production .

Awards

Together with Will Trempers Die Endlose Nacht , Das Feuerschiff received the silver film tape on June 23, 1963 , which was endowed with a premium of 300,000 DM.

As the best young actor Michael Hinz was awarded the gold film ribbon.

Remakes

At the end of 1984 the Pole Jerzy Skolimowski shot an English version (" The Lightship ") of the Lenz story on Sylt with Klaus Maria Brandauer as the captain and Robert Duvall as the unscrupulous criminal.

In the summer of 2007 a television version was made with Jan Fedder and Axel Milberg as opponents.

As expected, the German silent film Das Feuerschiff , shot in 1922, has nothing to do with the Lenz model.

Reviews

In its review of April 10, 1963, Der Spiegel writes on page 92: “The script (Curt Siodmak) based on the story of the same name by Siegfried Lenz turns out to be poor. It is not limited to a humble gangster story, but also delivers bombastic philosophy. The captain reading Plato continues to utter turned wisdoms like: 'This box (the lightship) is part of the order without which the world cannot exist.' The direction of 'Bozzi' director Ladislao Vajda vacillates indecisively between stylized shots based on the Hitchcock pattern and sentimental sequences in Heimatfilm manner. "

The Handbook VII of the Catholic Film Critics said: "The discussion about order and law, authority and a sense of duty suffocates in unresolved half-truths."

The Lexicon of International Films came to the following conclusion: “Siegfried Lenz's story is above all a parable about non-violent resistance. This is hardly noticeable in the film. His discussion about order and law seeps away on the border between the thesis and the dramatic endurance adventure. "

The Protestant film observer draws the following conclusion: "Not a particularly good, but an entertainment film that is helpful in its educational intentions."

The international criticism threw a completely different aspect into the discussion. In films and filming , the October 1964 issue says: "This film had political implications at the time it was made, when attempts were being made to push Adenauer out of office - with the moral that the old man knows best."

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The lightship on spiegel.de
  2. ^ Films 1962/64, Düsseldorf 1965, p. 52
  3. ↑ Klaus Brüne (Red.): Lexikon des Internationale Films , Volume 2, p. 1004. Reinbek near Hamburg 1987
  4. ↑ Protestant film observer . Evangelical Press Association Munich, Critique No. 163/1963
  5. ^ Robin Bean in films and filming , October 1964, p. 55
  6. ↑ Translation: "This film had political hints of its time when there were attempts to push Adenauer out of office - with the moral of the story: The old man knows best."

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