The double-headed eagle
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The double-headed eagle |
| Original title | L'Aigle à deux têtes |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 1948 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jean Cocteau |
| script | Jean Cocteau based on his play of the same name |
| production |
Georges Dancigers Alexandre Mnouchkine |
| music | Georges Auric |
| camera | Christian Matras |
| cut | Raymond Leboursier |
| occupation | |
| |
The double-headed eagle is a 1948 French drama directed by Jean Cocteau . Jean Marais and Edwige Feuillère play the leading roles .
action
In a fantasy land based on old Austria - hence the title The Double Eagle . Since her husband passed away ten years ago, a queen has lived in mourning and total seclusion at her Krantz Castle, surrounded by power-conscious courtiers and whisperers. One evening a young poet and anarchist persecuted by the police, named Stanislas, appears there with the intention of murdering the monarch. He enters her room wounded, but his plan to assassinate the queen fails. The ruler proves to be magnanimous and spares the attractive young man instead of handing him over to her guard, as he strongly reminds her of her deceased husband. She poetically calls him Azrael , the “angel of death,” and he has to recognize that she is not the despot he saw in her.
The two quickly fall in love, but Stanislas tries to influence the queen in his (political) sense and to break the stifling omnipotence of the court, embodied by Count Foehn and Her Majesty's lady-in-waiting, Edith de Berg. Each of the two so unequal lovers tries to stay true to their ideals in this intimate game, which is about love and power. Stanislas encourages his elderly lover to show himself again to the public in order to finally regain her political power, which the court has gradually reduced in the past few years, and thus to be able to draw new hope for a life together. Little did the Queen suspect, however, that resistance has formed among her favorites and courtiers. After only three days, the hopeless, tragic love ends in both deaths.
Production notes
The exterior shots of The Double Eagle were taken from October 13, 1947 to January 23, 1948 in Pierrefonds Castle , the former residence of Napoleon III. , in Vizille Castle (exterior shots) and in the winter sports resort L'Alpe d'Huez . The studio recordings were made in Épinay's studios. The world premiere took place on September 22, 1948, the German premiere on May 3, 1949.
The costumes were designed by Marcel Escoffier , the film construction by Christian Bérard , by Georges Wakhévitch . Claude Pinoteau and Hervé Bromberger assisted Jean Cocteau.
criticism
"Jean Cocteau's most theatrical play about the double death of the queen and the anarchist in love seems even more unbearably theatrical in the film."
"Cocteau's adaptation of his own successful play lives from the two excellent leading actors and, thanks to the excellent camera work Alain Douranious, from a stylistically impressive dialogue dramaturgy that dominates the screen until the end."
Individual evidence
- ↑ The double-headed eagle in Der Spiegel 41/1951, p. 26
- ^ The double-headed eagle in the lexicon of international film
Web links
- The double-headed eagle in the Internet Movie Database (English)