The Beaver

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Movie
German title The Beaver
Original title The Beaver
Country of production USA , United Arab Emirates
original language English
Publishing year 2011
length 91 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Jodie Foster
script Kyle Killen
production Steve Golin , Keith Redmon , Ann Ruark
music Marcelo Zarvos
camera Hagen Bogdanski
cut Lynzee Klingman
occupation
Leading actors Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster (2011 in Cannes)

The Beaver is a 2011 tragic comedy directed by Jodie Foster, starring Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster.

action

Walter Black, heir to a toy factory and father of a family, suffers from chronic depression . As a result, he is hardly able to communicate and run his company. When his wife Meredith separates from him, he drinks and tries to take her own life. But then he finds a beaver hand puppet in a garbage can . With their help, he can now get in touch with other people again and cope with everyday life. But the beaver is taking more and more control of his life. When Walter realizes this dependency, he tries to separate from the doll, which he only succeeds by forcibly severing his forearm.

Walter's older son Porter rejects his father and his embarrassing behavior for a long time. After the girl Norah, for whom he wrote a graduation speech, publicly confesses her betrayal and speaks about her trauma from the loss of her late brother, Porter realizes the worth of his father, who is now in a clinic, and speaks with him . The story leaves open whether Walter Black will return to his normal life.

production

Kyle Killen's script for The Beaver was written several years before the movie, but was not implemented by any studio. In 2008 it received an award for best unrealized script. It wasn't until Jodie Foster showed interest in the unusual material that the film was within reach. She played a leading role and directed at the same time. This made Der Biber her third work as a director. Steve Golin , who has already done original productions like Forget Mine Not! and Being John Malkovich had shown a certain willingness to take risks produced the film.

The beaver was filmed in Westchester County, New York. Part of the film was filmed at White Plains High School in White Plains , New York. Filming was completed in November 2009. Before Gibson was hired, Steve Carell and Jim Carrey were slated to star.

publication

The beaver had its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 16, 2011. The Los Angeles Times reported that the film was received "relatively friendly".

Reviews

Rotten Tomatoes has 60% positive ratings from a total of 172 reviews (as of September 2013). In summary, it says, "Jodie Foster's visual instinct and Mel Gibson's overall performance make a sincere, straightforward film."

Die Zeit praises Der Biber as "a courageous film that presents itself as a tabloid" and only criticizes the Hollywood happy ending.

The film-dienst judged: "If one disregards a superfluous duplication of the basic conflict in a subplot with Walter's son Porter and ignores the fact that the film suddenly adopts horror traits from" Chucky, the killer doll ", then" The Beaver "can be considered one view an eccentric but thoroughly original attempt to find appropriate cinematic means for telling a rather unspectacular, but widespread disease. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Ulrich Kriest: Der Biber , film-dienst, May 2011.
  2. Der Biber - Sprich mit der Hand , film review on DIE ZEIT online , accessed on June 15, 2011