The house on Karpfengasse
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The house on Karpfengasse |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1965 |
| length | 109 (cinema) 155 (television) minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Kurt Hoffmann |
| script | Gerd Angermann based on the novel of the same name by Moscheh Ya'akov Ben-Gavriêl |
| production |
Heinz Angermeyer for Independent-Film GmbH, Berlin, and WDR , Cologne |
| music | Zdeněk Liška |
| camera | Josef Illík |
| cut | Dagmar Hirtz |
| occupation | |
| |
Das Haus in der Karpfengasse is a German feature film by Kurt Hoffmann from 1963 with Edith Schultze-Westrum and Wolfgang Kieling in the leading roles. Gerd Angermann's screenplay is based on the novel of the same name by the Austrian-Israeli-Jewish writer Moscheh Ya'akov Ben-Gavriêl . In the Federal Republic of Germany, black and white films were first shown in the cinema on March 12, 1965. Before that, it had already been seen on ARD television - spread over three evenings . The West German Broadcasting took over three quarters of the costs.
action
The Karpfengasse mentioned in the title is located in the old Jewish quarter of Prague . The building at number 115 houses very different people on its three floors: Czechs, Germans and many Jews. A new, terrible time dawned for all of them when on March 15, 1939 the German Wehrmacht invaded the Czech Republic and proclaimed the “ Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ”.
The old Jewish widow Kauders wants to go to her “prodigal son” in Brazil. The research that is done about her, the countless visits to the Nazi authorities, the rough treatment that she receives, rob the woman of her last strength and she collapses. The clumsy, apolitical Bohemian-German bookseller Marek goes insane when his wife begins to cheat him with a lieutenant - also an ethnic German - and one day renounces him completely on the side of the new masters in the country. The Lederer and Laufer families, closely connected as owners of a “wholesale paper shop”, are torn apart: the Laufers manage to leave the country at the last moment; the partner, who cannot decide to emigrate, sets his office building on fire and dies in the flames.
The Mautner couple - he a cynic, she a hysterical patient - set out on their way into exile. But also for the German caretaker Glaser and his son - party member one, SA man the other - is not the beginning of such a rosy time: Misconduct in the past (the old man has an illegitimate child with a Jew) and wet research opportunism (the boy becomes beaten up in a provoked hall battle) spoil their joy in the changed existence. However, Božena, the Czech caretaker's daughter, works in a resistance group. Her end is tragic too: She was arrested on October 27 during demonstrations and faced an uncertain fate with others.
Production notes
The house on Karpfengasse was built from October 23 to December 17, 1963 in the Barrandov Studios in Prague . It is the entertainment film director Hoffmann's only foray into the serious profession. The premiere of the film took place as a three-part television film on ARD. The broadcast dates were March 7th, 9th and 11th, 1965. The film, which had been shortened by 46 minutes, was shown on March 12th, 1965, in the GDR on May 14th, 1965.
Pulver's husband Helmut Schmid , who played a supporting role here, also served director Hoffmann as assistant director.
criticism
In its review of March 24, 1965, Der Spiegel wrote on page 128 f .: “The film based on the novel of the same name by the Israeli writer Ben-Gavriêl is one of the few German post-war light plays that deals with the fate of Jewish people during the Nazi era . Director Kurt Hoffmann ("Schloß Gripsholm") could not find a distributor for a long time, despite the award-winning script (200,000 marks) - now the young and ambitious company "neue filmform heiner braun" sells realistic images of the Nazi and SS past. It was only the financial aid from Westdeutscher Rundfunk that made the film possible; It was therefore broadcast as a three-part television report on "Brotherhood Week" before it even opened in theaters. The tough sequence of scenes about the always tragic fate of the Jewish Karpfengasse residents has only one flaw: Film-Karpfengasse is not the real Karpfengasse in Prague, but Meiselgasse. "
In the film service it can be read: “The vivid clarity of the novel is missing from the beginning of the film shot by Kurt Hoffmann in Prague. Some documentary recordings clarify the external processes. But not all residents of the rental house are introduced, later only some of them. This complicates the overview and context, follows the trail of the diabolical system more by chance and prepares the arrest of the caretaker's daughter Božena, who belongs to a resistance group, with tension. (...) Nevertheless, Kurt Hoffmann's merit should not be underestimated. With remarkable empathy, which never blurs the positions of the inhuman oppressors and the human-all-too-human oppressed, he penetrates the milieu and mentality of Prague's Karpfengasse. Ben-Gavriêl's novel remained unadulterated. The film, which greatly shortens it, presupposes the historical-sociological conditions too much to be carried away. It is therefore difficult for young people to find their way around without a clarifying discussion. In recent years, German feature film production has nothing comparable to show that shows such a strong inner relationship to the task at hand. For this reason alone and regardless of its artistic weaknesses, the film is worth recommending in the annual best list of the film league. "
"Even though the staging does not advance towards artistic cohesion, the picture and presentation-intensive film is worth seeing because of its empathy for the country and its people."
“Kurt Hoffmann adapted the novel by Ben-Gavriêl surprisingly well. One can recommend the work - despite some weaknesses - as an important contribution to coming to terms with our past. "
Awards
The gold film ribbon awarded on June 27, 1965 was awarded to:
- The house on Karpfengasse as the best feature film. The premium was 350,000 DM
- Kurt Hoffmann as the best director
- Gerd Angermann as the best screenwriter
- Jana Brejchová as the best leading actress
- Zdeněk Liška for the best film music.
Edith Schultze-Westrum was also nominated for the film tape in gold .
- Inclusion in the annual top list of the Catholic Film and TV League
- Best of the month of the Evangelical Film Guild
- The film evaluation agency Wiesbaden gave the strip the rating 'Particularly valuable'.
Web links
- The house in Karpfengasse in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The house in Karpfengasse at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Source: Long review in the Evangelisches Film-Beobachter , Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 97/1965, pp. 184–185.
- ↑ The house in Karpfengasse on spiegel.de
- ↑ Jt, film-dienst, No. 10 of October 10, 1965
- ^ Lexicon of International Films . rororo-Taschenbuch Nr. 6322, 1988, p. 4002
- ↑ Protestant film observer. Evangelischer Presseverband München, Critique No. 97/1965, pp. 184-185
- ^ Lexicon of International Films . rororo-Taschenbuch Nr. 6322, 1988, p. 4002