The Girls' War (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The girls war |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1977 |
| length | 143 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Alf Brustellin Bernhard Sinkel |
| script | Alf Brustellin Bernhard Sinkel based on the novel of the same name by Manfred Bieler |
| production | Heinz Angermeyer for independent film, Munich; ABS film production, Munich; Maran-Film, Munich; Terra Filmkunst, Berlin; Süddeutscher Rundfunk , Stuttgart |
| music | Nikos Mamangakis |
| camera | Dietrich Lohmann |
| cut | Dagmar Hirtz |
| occupation | |
| |
The Girls' War is a German feature film from 1977 by Bernhard Sinkel and Alf Brustellin based on the novel of the same name by Manfred Bieler .
action
Prague , in the 1930s. While Adolf Hitler's Nazi barbarism is spreading more and more in neighboring Germany, life in the Czechoslovak capital seems like a long, calm river. The threats seem remote, the bourgeoisie enjoy peace and prosperity. The three beautiful daughters of the German businessman Dr. Sellmann, who left his hometown Dessau with them in 1936 and assumed the position of director of the Bohemian Landesbank in Prague.
Christine, Sophie and Katharina are very different characters. Your daily life is initially shaped less by the political turmoil in Central Europe than by the small personal joys and worries of everyday life, by love, lust and suffering. In the next ten years until shortly after the end of the war in 1945, their lives were increasingly determined by massive cuts in which three men - a smart communist who would fight the Nazis underground during the occupation, a sensitive, enthusiastic artist and a very wealthy businessman and serious killers - play central roles.
From 1939 on, private events were interwoven with big politics. While Katharina in war walking with her communist lover into the ground to fight against the occupiers, and Christine Czech manufacturers Jan Amery married, after the failure of the marriage but with the German occupying forces collaborated , Sophie begins to study singing. Meanwhile, she secretly adores her brother-in-law Jan, who remains taboo as long as her sister Christine is married to him. In turn, Sophie has found a great admirer in a somewhat dreamy musician, in whom she, however, does not seem interested. To escape this chaos of love, Sophie decides to leave worldly life behind and go to the monastery.
Production notes
The Girls' War was filmed in 59 days from September 7th to December 15th, 1976 in Prague and the surrounding area as well as in Venice . The film was completed on June 1, 1977. The premiere took place on June 7, 1977. The mass start was on August 24, 1977 with the Berlin premiere in the Gloria-Palast . The first television broadcast of The Girls' War took place on December 25, 1980 on ARD .
Joachim von Vietinghoff was in charge of production, the buildings were designed by Hans Gailling and (on site in Prague) Karel Vacek. Maleen Pacha designed the costumes . Bernd Heinl assisted Dietrich Lohmann with the camera work. Lena Valaitis provided the vocals. The Girls' War was given the film title “particularly valuable”.
The 21-year-old, award-winning debutante Katherine "Kaki" Hunter is a Californian who then returned to the United States and continued her film career into the early 1990s with less demanding works like Porky's (1982).
Awards
- As part of the Federal Film Prize in 1977 , Katherine Hunter received the gold film tape for her performance and the architect Hans Gailling for the set design . The film itself was awarded the film ribbon in silver .
- At the San Sebastian Film Festival in 1977, the Silver Shell went to the director team Brustellin-Sinkel, and another Silver Shell was given to Katherine Hunter.
- In addition, The Girls' War was rewarded with the 1978 Gild Prize.
Reviews
“Now, as the third coup, Brustellin and Sinkel have chosen Manfred Bieler's successful novel 'The Girls' War', because here too the main characters try to stand in the way of the times in a boyish and vital way. In the 'Girls' War, too, the right to a capricious individual life in collective times is entertainingly argued, with Brustellin and Sinkel knowing exactly who wins: they happily celebrate downfall. The subject matter - the fate of the three daughters of a German bank director in Prague, whose claims to life and love arise at the same time that Hitler is preparing to step down all such claims in Prague - seems almost ideal for a film today. The backdrop of the golden city, mixed with nostalgic longing; Backfish-like, white clad optimism contrasts with the hostile brown and field gray of the invading Nazis; a self-forgotten, self-indulgent bourgeoisie that hardly understands why it goes down, and whose demise is at the same time amiable and unfit for life: all of this enables the film to look back into a world that is rotting mundane. Of course, it is about lust and / or suffering. And the 'girls war' could, at best, have captured the contrast that makes private affairs explosive and deadly in collective times: a young girl loves a young man, well and good, but she is a German, senior daughter and he is the son of a Czech KP MPs. Love tussles in front of the fireplace, which the two perceive as a romantic escape, turn into a life-threatening political game. But strange: as much as Brustellin and Sinkel must have felt the charm of this incompatibility - what they gain from it is at best the contrast between the person and the backdrop. As precisely as the two filmmakers captured the interior and the atmosphere from 1936 to 1945, just as little was it possible for them to make more of the contemporary history that was filmed than an illuminating fireworks display in the background: heartache rages in front, cannons rumble in the background . But the war is only a cinematic firelight that colors the young girls' faces. "
"Although the film only works in the historical events of that time loosely and superficially and thus does not go beyond the privacy of its story, it is well worth seeing as high-quality entertainment."
“What is certain is that the directing team Sinkel / Brustellin ('Berlinger') made a film based on the Bieler book that is really impressive and can withstand international comparisons. (...) All of this is staged as if by a master hand and photographed with confidence, if you want to ignore some cuts that are too reckless for my taste. (...) 'The Girls' War' is an all-round enjoyable film - maybe just a little too long (almost two and a half hours, namely). What bothers are several mounted documentary recordings, historical quotations on celluloid, newsreel reports from the time taken. They are simply not enough to adequately explain the politically justified motives of the characters and to make them plausible. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Girls' War. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
Web links
- Girls war in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Press kit for The Girls' War at bernhardsinkel.com