The man who wanted to be king (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The man who wanted to be king |
| Original title | The Man Who Would Be King |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1975 |
| length | 129 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | John Huston |
| script | John Huston, Gladys Hill |
| production | John Foreman |
| music | Maurice Jarre |
| camera | Oswald Morris |
| cut | Russell Lloyd |
| occupation | |
| |
Wanted to be the man, the king (original title: The Man Who Would Be King ) is a British adventure film from director John Huston from 1975, based on the eponymous story by Rudyard Kipling .
action
In the framework of the film, the reporter Kipling is visited by the Northern Star by a seemingly crazy tramp who identifies himself as his former friend Peachy. Peachy tells him the story of how he and his partner Daniel were first worshiped as gods and then lost everything in Kafiristan , a region in what is now Afghanistan .
The flashback now tells the actual plot: A few years earlier, the former soldiers and survivors Peachy Carnehan and Daniel Dravot, who were up to mischief in British India, had signed a contract in Rudyard Kipling's office in which they undertook to do everything to become kings of Kafiristan and stay away from alcohol and women during their mission. Disguised as locals, they set out with twenty martini rifles on the dangerous journey to the Khyber Pass in order to reach the unexplored Kafiristan. After a few adventures they reach a village in Kafiristan and are approached by Billy Fish, a Gurkha and the only survivor of a British mapping expedition that has been lost for years . Billy speaks English that he learned from his regiment. There he got his name. When Peachy and Daniel offer themselves to the local chief as military advisers, Billy acts as their interpreter from that point on.
In this village in Kafiristan they are training a force to attack their enemies. In this first fight, an arrow lands in Daniel's chest without injuring him. The residents had not noticed that the arrow was stuck in Daniel's cartridge belt. They then murder their chief and make Danny king.
Now the high priest of Kafiristan is sending them to question and examine them: He would like to experience Daniel's invulnerability for himself. When his captors expose Daniel's chest, they discover a Masonic amulet hanging around his neck, believing that they recognize his divinity and ancestry from Alexander the Great. They call him Sikander the Second. Allegedly, after conquering Kafiristan, Alexander left a chest with the Masonic mark and announced his return or that of his son. Since the high priest is now convinced of the divinity and descent of Daniel, he shows him a treasury with immeasurable treasures: he can do whatever he wants with it.
Daniel takes his royal role very seriously. He speaks right and has it codified in order to transform the country into a modern state. Billy Fish continues to help him as an interpreter. Like everyone else, Daniel expects Peachy to bow submissively in public, and Peachy gives his consent. But Daniel's new honor is gradually going to his head.
After several months, Peachy explains that they should leave the country with the treasures for England as soon as the passes are passable again. However, Daniel wants to stay, he obviously likes his role too much, but wants to let Peachy go alone. Daniel explains that the country has priority over its own interests. Peachy tells him he's sick in the head.
Since Daniel has decided to marry in order to father a royal son and has already chosen a very beautiful woman, Roxanna (the name is based on Roxane , the wife of Alexander the Great), he agrees with Peachy that he will only be born after the Wedding celebrations should leave the country.
Since the people believe that whoever touches a god disappears immediately without a trace, Roxanna is mortally afraid of this marriage. When she is brought to Daniel in clear fear and he wants to hug and kiss her, she bites his cheek, which bleeds immediately. But a god does not bleed! The high priest steps up, checks the red liquid and declares Daniel a cheat. Peachy realizes immediately and faster than Daniel that it is all over now, and asks Daniel and Billy Fish to leave the scene with dignity and escape the country with the six mules full of treasures. But the indignant people chased the three in front of them to a rope bridge that Daniel had built. Daniel is indicated by signs to cross the bridge, but after walking a few meters, the high priest asks to cut the ropes that hold the bridge. When Daniel realizes this, he stands proudly without panic and begins to sing the chorale The Son of God Goes Forth to War ; he does not fight against this type of execution. Soon he will fall into the ravine. Billy Fish had already dared and fatalistically thrown himself into the angry crowd with his Gurkha knife and was killed.
In the resumed framework story, Peachy now tells that he was then crucified between two trees, but the next day when people saw that he was still alive, he was detached and released. It took him a year to reach India again. Again and again he speaks of himself in the third person. As a farewell, he leaves Kipling's head, wrapped in a cloth and crowned with Alexander's gold crown, already severely disfigured, which he must have recovered from the ravine.
background
Kipling's short story, published in 1888, was inspired by the adventures of James Brooke and Josiah Harlan's travels . It includes other actual aspects such as the European appearance of many Nuristani , the final scene is based on the actual story of the head of the geologist Adolf Schlagintweit . The short story itself has significantly more and more detailed allusions to Freemasonry.
The scenes that take place in Kafiristan were filmed in Morocco . The performer of Kafu Selim had previously had no film experience. Ben Bouih was 103 years old when it was set. When he saw the recordings, he said he would now live forever. Ben Bouih had previously worked as a night watchman for an olive grove. When he was about to resume this activity after filming, Huston explained that he would get enough money for the film to be able to sleep at night for the rest of his life.
Actually, Huston wanted to tackle the film earlier, in the 1950s with Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable , then with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas in the lead roles. When Huston approached Robert Redford and Paul Newman , Newman suggested Connery and Caine as the cast. The actress who plays the Roxanna, Shakira Caine, is Michael Caine's wife. At dinner the night before filming began, Huston announced to the film team that the actress who was supposed to play the role of the Indian princess was no longer available. The next day he managed to persuade her to take on the role.
Albert Whitlock completed the mat drawing of the fortress in just six hours.
Reviews
The film-dienst described the film as "a stylish and narrative versatile travel adventure film based on the short story of Kipling, in an imaginative interplay between poetic storytelling and grotesquely exaggerated comedy". For Cinema , the film was "a brilliant achievement in British cinema". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was equally enthusiastic about an exciting conversation that had not been so successful for a long time.
Awards
The film received four Oscar nominations in 1976 in the categories of Best Adapted Screenplay , Best Editing , Best Costume Design ( Edith Head ) and Best Production Design (Peter James, Alexandre Trauner and Tony Inglis). The film's music was also nominated for a Golden Globe .
At the 1976 BAFTA Awards , the film was also nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Costumes . The script, in turn, received a Writers Guild of America Award nomination .
synchronization
The German dubbed version was created in 1976.
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel | Sean Connery | Gert Günther Hoffmann |
| Peachy | Michael Caine | Hartmut Reck |
| Rudyard Kipling | Christopher Plummer | Franz Rudnick |
| Billy Fish | Saeed Jaffrey | Horst Sachtleben |
| District Commander | Jack May | Wolf Ackva |
| Ghulam | Albert Moses | Tonio von der Meden |
Soundtrack
- Maurice Jarre : The Man Who Would Be King. The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack . Milan / Bay Cities, sael, sound carrier no. 873127 - Original recording of the film music by the National Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of the composer.
literature
- Rudyard Kipling : The man who wanted to be king (Original title: The Man Who Would Be King ). With illustrations by Heiner Rothfuchs . Bertelsmann Lesering, Gütersloh 1961, 125 pp.
Web links
- The Man Who Would Be King in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Man Who Would Be King at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Tajikistan & The High Pamirs: A Companion and Guide. Robert Middleton & Huw Thomas, Odyssey, 2008, ISBN 962-217-773-5 .
- ↑ See Michael Caine: What's it All About? . London 1992, ISBN 0-7126-3567-X , pp. 333f.
- ↑ The man who wanted to be king. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ See cinema.de
- ↑ Roger Ebert: The Man Who Would Be King on rogerebert.com, February 23, 1976, accessed January 25, 2010.
- ↑ See synchrondatenbank.de ( Memento from April 11, 2016 in the Internet Archive )