The President (1919)

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Movie
German title The president
Original title Presidents
Country of production Denmark
original language Danish
Publishing year 1919
length 80 minutes
Rod
Director Carl Theodor Dreyer
script Carl Theodor Dreyer
production Nordisk film
camera Hans Vaagø
occupation

The President is a 1918 Danish silent film drama directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer , his first published screen production. The film is based on the 1884 novel of the same name by Karl Emil Franzos .

action

In the center of the action is the court president Karl Victor von Sendling. His father Franz Victor von Sendlingen once fell in love with a poor porter's daughter. After they had sexual intercourse, that young woman from a humble background became pregnant. Quite a man of honor, Franz Victor wanted to marry the woman he had pregnant, but the marriage went wrong. Decades later, Franz Victor von Sendling is very keen that his experience will be an apprenticeship to his son and that he should give more care when choosing a partner. And so Karl Victor firmly resolves never to marry a commoner from a lowly rank. A few years later, Karl Victor falls in love with the young governess Hermine Lippert, and they both get together. Since his father took the oath from him that he would never marry a commoner and Karl Victor does not want to break his oath, he prefers to part with his lover and with this decision destroys the life of this woman. This decision also had a major impact on himself: Karl Victor von Sendling became lonely and bitter.

More years go by. Karl Victor von Sendling has now risen to the position of President of the Supreme Court in his hometown. His former love Hermione, whom he had rejected, gave birth to a daughter named Victorine. One day Karl Victor learns that the young woman has been arrested for the murder of her own child and has admitted her guilt. She is then sentenced to death. An application for a pardon is submitted but rejected. Karl Victor learns that his behavior was passed on to the next generation: Victorine was impregnated and abandoned by an aristocrat. Then she decided on her act of desperation. Karl Victor now seeks out the convict and lets Victorine believe that her pardon has been granted. During his promotion to president of the capital, he freed his daughter from prison and escaped with her from home. Abroad, Victorine is happily married to the plantation owner Weyden. Karl Victor von Sendling returns home to face punishment for his actions. But the new court president of his home country Werner, once a subordinate of Sendling, does not want the case to be made public and the people's belief in Justice to be damaged as a result. And so a criminal act committed with good motives goes unpunished. Karl Victor then decides to take care of himself in the ruins of the old family castle.

Production notes

The filming of The President was shot on Gotland (Sweden) in the early summer of 1918 and ended on August 11 of the same year. The world premiere took place in Sweden on February 3, 1919, the Danish premiere was one year later, on February 8, 1920. It is not yet clear when exactly this film was shown in Germany.

Reviews

Dreyer's early work did not meet with the same enthusiasm as his later work. Bucher's encyclopedia of the film states: “ Presidents is a not very coherently constructed thriller that reveals how impressed Dreyer was with Griffith's Intolerance (1916), which he had seen shortly before. The plot works with the technique of flashback borrowed from Griffith. However, there are already characteristics of Dreyer's later matured ability to deal with problems of conscience and to be meticulous about the authenticity of the decor. "

On the occasion of a German retrospective of Dreyer’s productions in March 2010, it was said: “Dreyer's directorial debut PRIDSIDENTEN… is a melodrama about men who do not fulfill their responsibility as fathers towards women of the lower social class. (...) The autobiographical film ... already has many features of his later works: the oppression of women, the need for a sacrifice for love as well as a clear, simple style and buildings that appear framed. "

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bucher's Encyclopedia of Films, Verlag CJ Bucher, Lucerne and Frankfurt / M. 1977, p. 199.
  2. ↑ The President on arsenal-berlin.de

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