The Bajazzo (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Bajazzo |
| Original title | Pagliacci |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1936 |
| length | 93 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Karl Grune |
| script |
Monckton Hope Roger Burford Ernest Betts based on the opera Pagliacci by Ruggiero Leoncavallo |
| production | Max Schach for Trafalgar Film Prod., London |
| music | Hanns Eisler (arrangements) |
| camera | Otto Kanturek |
| cut | Walter Stokvis |
| occupation | |
| |
Bajazzo is a British musical film based on the 1936 opera Pagliacci by Ruggiero Leoncavallo . Richard Tauber plays the title role, directed by Karl Grune .
action
As Bajazzo, Canio makes people laugh and goes with his Commedia dell'arte troop over the villages. The comedians are popular with the simple peasant folk, as they provide variety in their often dreary and hard everyday life with their jokes. It is not uncommon for the small group to be invited to the inn. One of the jokers, however, the young Tonio, recommended quickly on the grounds that he still had to take care of the clown's donkey. The villagers make fun of it, speculating that the donkey would be more of a pretty young woman. The presumed Nedda is the queen of hearts of Bajazzos Canio, and she is prone to severe jealousy attacks. Canio rages and swears that, unlike on the stage in real life, he would avenge the infidelity of his loved ones with death.
Nedda is very concerned about these words, since she has anything but a clear conscience. Because although she has emphatically and derisively rejected Tonio's advances, she still cheats on her husband. Her lover's name is Silvio, and he is now trying to convince her to leave the troupe with him at night and in fog and thus to leave her husband. Tonio, realizing that he will never end up with Nedda, immediately rushes to Canio and tells him about the just observed, intimate rendezvous. Canio, snorting with anger, runs to Nedda with a dagger, hoping to be able to catch the lover. But Silvio managed to escape at the last second. Canio threatens the young woman and asks her to reveal the name of the rival. The clown Beppo steps between the two at the last moment and calms the extremely angry, horned husband.
The Bajazzo, who now has to go to his next gig, doesn't feel like jokes and jokes, but he knows what he owes the audience. And so he sings “Laugh, Bajazzo” - even if you're crying at the moment. Before the performance begins, Nedda finds the opportunity to warn her lover Silvio of the anger of the betrayed husband. The performance takes its course, the protagonists play and sing their roles. When Nedda calls out the same farewell words to her role of Colombina, as embodied by Beppo, the fleeing Harlequin as she did to her lover Silvio, Canio goes crazy as Bajazzo. Jealousy seizes him in such a way that he no longer knows how to differentiate between play and reality and coram publico asks Nedda again for the name of her lover. The viewers do not recognize that at this moment the game has become bitter serious and cheer and applaud frenetically this scene, which is felt to be particularly intense in terms of performance. But Canio, trapped in the madness of a jealous husband, stabs the fleeing Nedda with the dagger in the back. Her last thought goes to her lover, and Nedda / Colombina dies with the name "Silvio" on her lips. A little later the madman murders him too.
Production notes
The Bajazzo was Karl Grune's last film director. The film was shot in the summer of 1936 in Elstree Studios in London . Mostly filmed in black and white, some scenes (the stage sequences) were also produced in color. In May 1936, Bertolt Brecht worked on revising the existing script in collaboration with Fritz Kortner . However, his changes were not taken into account in the final version.
The world premiere of Der Bajazzo took place on December 11, 1936 in London, at the beginning of the following year Der Bajazzo was also announced in Tauber's native Austria. As expected, the film was not allowed to be shown in National Socialist Germany , where Tauber was now ostracized because of his Jewish faith.
The Bajazzo is considered to be an important film contribution by German-speaking emigrants in exile in Britain during the Third Reich : In addition to Grune, Max Schach (production), Hanns Eisler (film composition), OF Werndorff (buildings), Ernst Stern (costumes), Otto Kanturek (camera ) and Fritz Brunn (production manager).
In the same year (1936) Tauber married his colleague (in the role of Trina) Diana Napier .
Reviews
“A romantic tragedy , filmed with extreme skill and impressive vocal brilliance. The compromise between an attractive plot and the opera excerpt, which is necessary for commercial considerations, has succeeded brilliantly thanks to Richard Tauber's admirable versatility. His performance of "On with the Motley" and the famous prologue is great, the persuasiveness of his performance goes hand in hand with his vocal triumphs. "
“A surprising British venture at the time that did pretty well at the box office; probably because of the color passages. "
The Österreichische Film-Zeitung reported in its edition of January 22, 1937: “The fate of Bajazzo, who has to learn that the role of the betrayed husband, which he so often plays in the theater, has become a reality for him, is that of Karl Grune has been designed into a captivating film plot in which Richard Tauber has the opportunity to perform all the melodious and effective vocal numbers of Leoncavallo's opera with perfect art. His partner is the spirited and pretty Steffi Duna, who plays the role of Nedda-Colombines with a lot of grace and playful grace and has a pretty voice. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ In: Letters to Bertolt Brecht in Exile (1933-1949)
- ↑ "The Bajazzo". In: Österreichische Film-Zeitung , January 22, 1937, p. 3 (online at ANNO ).
Web links
- Pagliacci in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Bajazzo at filmportal.de