The priest and the girl
The Priest and the Girl is an Austrian homeland film by Gustav Ucicky from 1958 based on a film novella by Hellmut Andics. The main roles are occupied by Rudolf Prack and Marianne Hold , leading roles with Rudolf Lenz , Winnie Markus and Willy Birgel and Ewald Balser as bishop.
action
Walter Hartwig comes to Mariental as the new priest. The church is dilapidated, the children's choir cannot sing and the Marientaler are rather indifferent to the presence of the new priest. Even the noble families von Gronau and von Steinegg have not shown up in the church for a long time, but Mr. von Gronau benefits from the customs in the village: for 20 years the rent on the land that he leased from the church has increased , not increased. Walter notices this too and enforces new lease agreements. Before Mr. von Gronau, however, he met his daughter Eva when she almost drove around a little girl in her horse-drawn carriage. Because Eva does not move from the driver's seat, Walter reacts angrily. He doesn't know that the young woman has been paralyzed since a skiing accident. At that time she was on winter vacation with her boyfriend Stefan von Steinegg and drove away angry out of jealousy of him. Since then, Stefan has felt responsible for her. For this reason, the diplomat has neglected his career and has so far rejected requests for transfer. The village doctor suspects that the paralysis has only psychological reasons, but neither he nor an expert can help Eva.
Walter is sorry for his behavior when he hears about Eva's physical condition. He learns that she likes to sing and hires her as a choir director. Under her guidance, the children can suddenly sing. Walter makes Eva open up more. She is full of self-doubt and believes that she is no longer needed by anyone. She has also given up on her fiancé Stefan because she does not want to hinder him in his professional career. In fact, at the instigation of his cousin Herta, he accepted an offer to become a diplomat in Rome. Eva finds out about this on the phone and later sees pictures in the newspaper that show Stefan with young Gina. She is the daughter of the wealthy Fiori family, to whom Stefan owes the diplomatic post. In the following years Eva spends more and more hours with Walter and begins to overcome her psychological block. She manages to stand and soon afterwards take a few steps. Stefan's cousin Herta fears that Eva has fallen in love with Walter and writes to him that he must travel to Mariental immediately if he does not want to lose Eva. Shortly afterwards, Stefan arrives in Mariental. Eva, however, is dismissive, apparently no longer has any feelings for him and denies that she is better. Stefan learns from Herta how things are really going with Eva and goes to see Walter. He accuses him of loving Eva, but not being able to reconcile this with his profession. In fact, Walter had serious doubts.
Walter applies to the bishop for a transfer. He also discusses with him whether he should renounce the priesthood in order to marry Eva, but Walter cannot say with certainty that he would actually want to live with Eva for the rest of his life. Eva learns that Walter wants to be transferred and is desperate. She reproaches her father for having driven him to take this step, although in reality Stefan's visit was the reason for Walter's action. Eva drives away in a horse-drawn cart that eventually loses a wheel. Eva is hurt. At the family's request, Walter goes to Eva at the bedside. He makes it clear to her that her love for him is really only for Stefan, who still loves her, since he went to see him. She also realizes that Walter loves her too, but puts his office above his feelings towards her. In the end Walter leaves, but shortly before that he sees Eva again in the church: He trusts her and Stefan.
production
Production notes
The costumes for The Priest and the Girl were created by Charlotte Flemming , the film structures were created by Werner Schlichting and Isabella Schlichting . Production management was in the hands of Karl Schwetter .
publication
The film was released in German cinemas on December 19, 1958. In Denmark it was published on May 9, 1960 under the title Komtessen og præsten . The English title is The Priest and the Girl .
Alive released the film on August 24, 2018 as part of the "Jewels of Film History" series on DVD.
criticism
The catholic film service called the priest and the girl an "embarrassing celibacy snitch". “The encounter between the comforter Rudolf Prack and the wheelchair user Marianne Hold, dripping with Schmalz,” remarked Cinema smugly. Other critics saw the film in a row with more serious Heimatfilms, even if the plot with the triangular constellation was predictable and the Heimatfilm as "conforming to the system" also emphasized the duty of celibacy.
Web links
- The priest and the girl in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The priest and the girl at filmportal.de
- The priest and the girl Fig.Illustrated film stage No. 4611 (in the picture: Rudolf Prack, Marianne Hold, Willy Birgel)
- The priest and the girl Film photo Gloria (in the picture: Rudolf Lenz, Marianne Hold)
- The priest and the girl full film at gloria.tv
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Priest and the Girl Fig. DVD case film jewels (in the picture: Rudolf Prack, Marianne Hold, Willy Birgel)
- ↑ The priest and the girl. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ The Priest and the Maiden See cinema.de (including 11 film images). Retrieved November 25, 2018.
- ↑ The priest and the girl . In: Gertraud Steiner: Die Heimat-Macher. Cinema in Austria 1946–1966 . Publishing House for Social Criticism, Vienna 1987, p. 198.
