The sea calls
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The sea calls |
| Country of production | German Empire |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1933 |
| length | 81 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Hans Hinrich |
| script |
Josef Pelz von Felinau with the collaboration of Hans Klaehr and Helmut Brandis , based on the ballad Terje Vigen by Henrik Ibsen |
| production |
Wilhelm Huebner Josef Mayer for Deutsche Eidophon |
| music | Werner Schmidt-Boelcke |
| camera |
Willy Winterstein Kurt Neubert |
| occupation | |
| |
The sea calls is a 1932 German drama film directed by Hans Hinrich with Heinrich George in the leading role.
action
In The Call of the Sea , Ibsen's original, which was set against Napoleon's France at the time of the English naval blockade, was relocated to the Baltic States at the time of the First World War .
Terje Wiggen is a member of the German-speaking minority in the Russian Empire (so-called Baltic Germans ). He works as a pilot in a small port on the Baltic island of Moon . Terje is happily married to his wife Antje, but it is not his dream to stay on land forever. Rather, he is drawn to the high seas, as life as a pilot on land seems monotonous to him. When he learns that the helmsman of a merchant ship has failed, he is hired there immediately. The fact that his wife is pregnant cannot prevent him from making this decision. The experienced seaman quickly gains respect on board the “Carola”. Even in emergencies, he always knows what to do. However, a persistent lull, which drives the two-master off the sea route, also gets him into trouble. Wiggen's ship bobbed around for a while, and in order to prevent an outbreak of disease, he had to dump the gradually rotting water reserves overboard. In addition, it is not possible to prevent “Carola” Captain Peters from falling ill with the plague .
Since the rest of the ship's crew refuses to allow the captain to have a decent burial at sea for fear of infection, Wiggen takes on this task all by himself. The fear of falling ill and dying of the plague also prompts the sailors to secretly leave the "Carola" in the lifeboat. Terje Wiggen remains on board alone. Then a storm comes up and he gets into distress. Terje Wiggen survived the rigors of nature with great difficulty, but the "Carola" is only a wreck. Days later it is discovered floating on the Baltic Sea and fished up. Meanwhile, in August 1914, the war broke out and Antje doesn't know that her husband is still alive. When Terje comes home very late, their happiness is endless. Terje promises his wife that she no longer wants to go to sea and that she will leave her at home with her worries.
Two years have passed and Terje has to painfully acknowledge that the Imperial German Navy is blocking the sea route to Russia. This also has catastrophic consequences for him personally and his small family, because his wife and baby are threatened with starvation. Then he made the decision to take a boat and break through the sea blockade with good luck in order to organize food. On the way back, a German torpedo boat attacks Terje's small ship. His boat is sunk, Terje Wiggen arrested and taken away. But in fear of his family starving at home, Wiggen lets himself be carried away into a short-circuit act and attacks the sailor who wants to lead him away. Thereupon a German naval war tribunal sentenced the helmsman to a long prison sentence, which he was serving in German captivity.
Five years have passed since then. The war has long since ended and Terje Wiggen is finally allowed to move home again. As a broken man he returns to his little island. Antje died of exhaustion and hunger. She also believed that her Terje had left her again and that the call of the sea must have been too strong for him. When he tries to hug his child, who has grown up with strangers since Antje's death, it runs away in fear. From then on, Terje Wiggen bitterly sought solitude and became a loner who hired himself as a pilot again. Only dark thoughts of revenge and hatred of the man he blames for his misery and the death of his beloved wife keep him alive. One day this very man, the former captain of torpedo boat 81 and his yacht, got into distress off the Baltic coast. Wiggen helps him, but then it comes to a duel between life and death. Only at the last moment does Terje let go of the man. The realization matured in him that the death of this man will never bring his Antje and their son back. And so he guides his yacht safely to the next port.
Production notes
The sea is calling was created less than two weeks after the completion of the shooting of his other sea film of the year, Schleppzug M 17 , between October 10 and December 15, 1932 around the Danish Baltic island of Bornholm (exterior shots) and in the Terra Glass House (studio shots ) in Berlin-Marienfelde . The premiere took place on January 26, 1933 in the Netherlands, the German premiere was on February 23, 1933 in the Ufa-Theater-Kurfürstendamm. In Austria you could see The Sea from June 28 and July 5, 1935 under the title Mutiny on the High Seas .
Karl Löb and the supporting actor Roland von Rossi assisted the chief cameramen Willy Winterstein and Kurt Neubert . Composer Werner Schmidt-Boelcke was also the musical director. Hans Christoph Schulz wrote the lyrics. The buildings were created by Erich Zander and Ernő Metzner , and Willi Ernst designed the costumes. Hans Strobel and Erich R. Schwab took care of the sound, Erich Schikowski was production manager, Hans Schönmetzler was production manager .
For Ferdinand von Alten this was the last (tiny) film role. He died three weeks after the premiere. The song of the film Der brave Peter (music: Karl Knauer, text: Hans Christoph Schulz) was sung by Ernst Busch.
Reviews
Paimann's film lists summed up: "Despite some qualities, only a passable medium film."
The author and critic Karlheinz Wendtland commented on Heinrich George's work: “They rob him of his wife, child, peace, they rob him of happiness. Heinrich George fills the mighty space of this fateful plot with his strong talent. When George appears, the earth trembles. This is particularly evident in the prison scene, where he roars like a dying animal. When he is quiet, the sea is silent. A terrific film. "
In the lexicon of international films it says: "Quality melodrama with impressive performance by Heinrich Georges."
Web links
- The sea calls in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The sea calls at filmportal.de
- The sea calls full film at filmportal.de
- The sea calls movie posters at filmposter-archiv.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ulrich J. Klaus: Deutsche Tonfilme, 4th year 1933. Berlin-Berchtesgaden 1992, p. 131
- ↑ Mutiny on the High Seas Illustrated Film-Kurier No. 1117
- ↑ a b Karlheinz Wendtland: Beloved Kintopp. All German feature films from 1929–1945 with numerous artist biographies born in 1933 and 1934, edited by the author Karlheinz Wendtland, Berlin, Chapter: Films 1933, Film No. 26.
- ↑ The sea calls in Paimann's film lists ( Memento of the original from May 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The sea calls. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
