The call of the north
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The call of the north |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1929 |
| length | 96 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Nunzio Malasomma |
| script |
Curt Johannes Braun Nunzio Malasomma |
| production | Hom-AG-Film, Berlin |
| music | Giuseppe Becce |
| camera |
Willy Winterstein Eduard von Borsody Franz Eigner |
| occupation | |
and Lars Hansen, Roland von Rossi , Hugo Lehner , Karl Falkenberg , Arno Kozur , Alexandra Schmitt , Bruno Ziener | |
The Call of the North is a late German silent film from 1929 by Nunzio Malasomma with Luis Trenker and Max Holsboer in the leading roles.
action
Jane Winton's husband has been missing for two years when he was on an expedition to the Arctic Ocean . In order to clear up his fate, she secretly takes part in another polar voyage without the crew of the expedition ship noticing anything. Also this time is the robust Peter Helling, about whom it is rumored that he could have her husband on his conscience due to the rivalry over Jane. When Jane's presence on the ship is noticed, the rough men hold back at first. Soon the polar ship is trapped in the pack ice. Part of the team is now on the ice with their dogs and sledges to follow the last trace of the lost Winton. Jane remains on board the ship.
The Swede Ivar Svensson and his squad encounter a Winton deposit. During his investigations, Svensson found Winton's diary and reads in it that Winton's last surviving companion wrote that Winton had died. When Svensson wants to continue following Winton's trail, it is Helling who absolutely wants to accompany him. Both hardened men camp on a mighty ice floe, which, however, tears away from its surroundings one night, whereupon the two men are driven off. The two manage to dock on an iceberg, but the following march is too much for Ivar Svensson: he is losing strength and his hands freeze to death. In the meantime, Helling has killed a polar bear to at least provide some food. Svenssons asks his companion to redeem him, but Helling drags him on with his last bit of strength. But it is too late, Svensson dies of utter exhaustion.
Helling succeeds in creating a dignified burial place for his dead comrades in the eternal ice, while in the meantime the sexually starved men on board the ship are harassing Jane more and more. In order not to expose herself to the intrusions any longer, Jane is advised not to leave her cabin from now on. The pack ice around the ship is getting thicker and thicker and is pressed against the walls of the ship with tremendous force. Jane's cabin is also compressed so much that her door can no longer be opened. Nobody hears their cry for help when the icy masses of water penetrate the ship and flood it. Jane dies miserably while the crew telegraphs for help. A rescue expedition then sets off. Svensson and Helling are also being sought. At the last moment, the completely exhausted Peter Helling can be tracked down and saved.
Production notes
The Call of the North was created between March and August 1929 under the direction of the expedition of local Lars Hansen at the following locations: Arctic (Northern Arctic Ocean); Spitzbergen / Norway and Switzerland. The film with a length of 7 acts, spread over a length of 2,640 meters, was premiered on September 13, 1929 in the Berlin Universum Cinema.
Malasomma's compatriot Mario Bonnard took over the artistic direction. Luis Trenker and Viktor Skutezky were in charge of production, Heinrich C. Richter designed the film structures.
In 1934 a sound film version of this film was released again in cinemas under the direction of Johannes Häussler under the title Polar Storms .
Reviews
“The accumulation of catastrophes, too much detail, make the polar film theatrical in places. (...) I also have an objection to Luis Trenker. Its expression is not so simple, not so matter-of-fact, not so sparse, as it should be in the north; poses himself, he is soulful, and soul is not important among Northmen. Dr. Holsboer, his friend and rival, experiences more taciturn and stronger, is more genuine, more shocking in expression. All objections cannot affect this film. He always varies the experience of loneliness in the picture. The photography of the landscape is stronger than what is composed in film. (...) And an abundance of human faces! Jagged, shadowed faces strong in silence! Landscapes in faces! "
The Österreichische Film-Zeitung wrote: "This is a new polar expedition film that is definitely one of the most beautiful, interesting and effective of its kind that has ever been seen in this field."
The lexicon of the international film says: "Because of the fascinating images of the Arctic expedition, an impressive silent film about the rivalry between two men in an extreme situation that ends as a mystical tragedy."
Web links
- The call of the North in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The call of the north at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ "The Call of the North". In: Österreichische Film-Zeitung , September 21, 1929, p. 17 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ The Call of the North. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 1, 2020 .