The corporal in the noose

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Movie
German title The corporal in the noose
Original title Le caporal épinglé
Country of production France
original language French
Publishing year 1962
length 100 minutes
Rod
Director Jean Renoir
script Jean Renoir
Guy Lefranc based
on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Jacques Perret
production Adry De Carbuccia
Roland Girard
music Joseph Kosma
camera Georges Leclerc
cut Renée Lichtig
occupation

The Corporal in the Loop is a French film drama with Franco-German-Austrian cast, directed by Jean Renoir in 1961 , set in World War II and led by Jean-Pierre Cassel , Claude Brasseur , Claude Rich , OE Hasse and Cornelia Froboess .

action

France in June 1940. The country is militarily defeated and occupied by the Wehrmacht. A corporal from a good family who is being held in a German prisoner-of-war camp, a Stalag , is driven by such an irrepressible will for freedom that he constantly tries to escape. But every time the corporal tries to escape, he is caught a little later and brought back. This time he wants to try again together with two comrades, the war-weary and gentle hobby philosopher Ballochet and the more solid papa. It is the corporal's seventh attempt.

For the corporal, freedom is indispensable, an ideal that must always be fought for, and so no hurdle is too high and no obstacle too difficult for him. Indeed, this time the three friends escape. The young Erika Schmidt, assistant and daughter of the German dentist Dr. Ursula Schmidt, whom the corporal is allowed to visit because of considerable toothache. Erika shows him and his comrades in their great distress humanity and worried clothes, with which the three pass as civilians. Ballochet is the least likely to escape, and so he soon seeks death in machine gun fire with suicidal intent.

The other two continue their flight unabated. The men make some strange encounters, for example with a sullen dairy farmer or a short-sighted intellectual. In the end, the corporal and papa take the train because, on the one hand, it seems dangerous to them, but on the other hand it also seems the fastest way back home, to France. In one compartment, they get to know a very cheerful but very friendly and fatherly-jovial German who makes them happy with his philosophical worldview. When they threaten to be discovered by German controllers, a lucky coincidence helps them, because at that moment the train is attacked from the air. The corporal and papa escape and after a long walk they finally reach occupied Paris, where the two paths separate on the Seine.

Production notes

The Korporal in der Schlinge was created at the end of 1961 in Austria (exterior shots) as well as in Vienna and Paris (studio shots) with a few Austrian actors in supporting roles. The premiere took place on May 23, 1962 in Paris. In the following month, the film, which is also a reminiscence of Renoir's masterpiece The Great Illusion from 1937, was shown for the first time in Germany at the Berlinale . However, there was no German theatrical release. The corporal in the sling was shown in the Federal Republic for the first time on WDR-3 television on April 19, 1979.

Wolf Witzemann designed the film structures .

John Sturges shot a more tangible, action-packed variation on this theme the following year (1962) in Bavaria under the title Busted Chains .

criticism

“The film brings back memories of Renoir's ' The Great Illusion ' (1937), but is too entangled in the episodic and does not have the epic-lyrical trait of that film. Nevertheless, it gives testimony to the ideal of freedom and friendship and, despite weaknesses in the production, offers humane entertainment. "

Le Caporal épinglé joins the late works of the great classical cineastes ( Ford , Walsh , Chaplin ) with their deadly ability to achieve the essence of simplicity in staging. When Ballochet (Claude Rich) theatrically prepares his departure (in truth, his suicide), he explains: 'I have a plan, the best of all. It consists in not having one '. He thus proclaims the sovereign and free morality of the filmmaker himself. "

- Le Monde of February 7, 1997

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The corporal in the noose in the Lexicon of International FilmsTemplate: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used

Web links