The day that changed the world
The day that changed the world (reference title in the GDR Das Assentat von Sarajevo , original title Atentat u Sarajevu ) is an international fiction film by director Veljko Bulajić from 1975 . It deals with the preparation and implementation of the assassination attempt in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, in which the Austrian heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand von Österreich-Este and his wife Sophie Countess Chotek were murdered - which led to the First World War . The Archduke couple is played by Christopher Plummer and Florinda Bolkan , Maximilian Schell has a leading role.
action
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este is a sober man who uses his power in a clearly calculating way and exerts considerable influence on state affairs. The German ambassador Heinrich von Tschirschky expressed this with the words: "The hand of the Archduke was everywhere". The autocratic ruler doesn't just have friends. He lives in rivalry with his younger brother, the beautiful Otto, and also has to fight not to succumb to tuberculosis. He also has to fight for his love for the unequal Countess Sophie Chotek, as well as for the throne. His marriage to Sophie led to disagreements with his uncle, Emperor Franz Joseph.
Around the anarchist Djuro Šarac, a former Bosnian underground fighter, a revolutionary group was formed at that time, which is determined to deal a blow to the monarchy. They all belong to the “ Mlada Bosna ” organization . In a secret conspiracy, the Serbian terrorists decide in early summer 1914 to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. They expect a national uprising against the longstanding Austrian rule. Since Franz Ferdinand and his wife will visit Sarajevo shortly, they want to strike there. Šarac trains the young men, teaches them how to handle weapons and explains the exact sequence of the attack. The men directly involved in the assassination drive from Belgrade via numerous detours to Sarajevo, where their liaison officers await them. A little later Djuro Šarac also arrives in Sarajevo and joins the men. When the Serbian police found out about the planned attack, they forbade it, arguing that something like this could have unforeseeable consequences. The potential attackers are pensive, but not everyone is impressed by it, one of the young people wants to do it on his own Try fist.
Šarac, who was arrested, is tortured in prison and later succumbs to injuries sustained in the process. But even his arrest means that the group moves closer together again and now wants to carry out the planned assassination. On June 28, 1914, the assassins were spread out in their places when the Archduke and his wife drove through the city in an open car. Fortunately, a bomb that is thrown in the direction of the passing couple heir to the throne misses its target. However, the motorcade makes the mistake of continuing the journey. When they had already started their way back, the assassin Gavrilo Princip managed to shoot Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie at close range. The Archduchess succumbs to her serious injuries on site, and the Archduke's life cannot be saved either.
With a few exceptions, everyone involved in this attack died shortly afterwards.
production
Production notes, locations
The film was produced by CFRZ in Belgrade, by Filmové Studio Barrandov in Prague, by Jadran Film, Zagreb and by Kinema Sarajevo.
The film was shot in Sarajevo , the capital of the then Yugoslav republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina , and in the rest of Yugoslavia . The score for the film is by Semizova Kafana and uses Verses from the poem , written by Rajko Petrov-Nogo.
synchronization
- Hans Putz , German voice of Christopher Plummer as Archduke Franz Ferdinand
- Eva Kinsky , German voice of Florinda Bolkan as Archduchess Sophie
- Hans-Michael Rehberg , German voice of Maximilian Schell as Djuro Šarac
- Jürgen Clausen , German voice of Irfan Mensur as Gavrilo Princip
- Eduard Linkers , German voice of Otomar Korbelář as Emperor Franz Joseph I.
- Wolf Rahtjen , German voice of Hannjo Hasse as Kaiser Wilhelm II.
- Wolfgang Büttner , German voice of Wilhelm Koch-Hogge as Franz Conrad
- Jaromír Borek and Kurt Jaggberg German voices as secret police
In the German Democratic Republic, the synchronization was carried out by the DEFA studio with the speakers: Maria Alexander , Horst Hiemer , Walter Niklaus , Eugen Schaub , Frank Schenk , Elvira Schuster, Joachim Siebenschuh , Ursula Staack , Lothar Tarelkin and others. As there were many international stars involved, the film was shot in English.
history
The heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914) and his wife Sophie Chotek, Duchess of Hohenberg (1868-1914) were on June 28, 1914 during their visit to Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Serbian nationalist movement Mlada Bosna , murdered. This act eventually led to the outbreak of the First World War .
Princip immediately swallowed potassium cyanide, but vomited it and tried to shoot himself. However, the angry crowd snatched the pistol from his hand and wanted to lynch him. The assassin was then arrested by gendarmes and taken away. Sophie, who was hit in the abdomen, was bleeding to death in the car within a very short time. In the meantime, first responders tried to save the heir to the throne. However, it failed to stop the flow of blood. Franz Ferdinand also succumbed to his injuries. Princip later announced that he hadn't wanted to meet Sophie at all.
Gavrilo Princip (1894-1918) was a Bosnian-Serb nationalist assassin. In Yugoslavia and Serbia he was or is still a popular hero. He was one of nine children of a postal worker. Although the prosecutor called for the death penalty for Principe's murder, he was sentenced to 20 years of hard labor in the Small Fortress of Theresienstadt . There he was kept in a very narrow, damp, and dark cell, was initially even constantly chained and was not allowed to receive visitors. The conditions of detention affected his health badly, and he tried to kill himself more than once. One of his arms had to be amputated. On April 28, 1918, he died in the prison hospital of complications from tuberculosis. He was buried anonymously in Theresienstadt.
publication
The film premiered in Yugoslavia on October 31, 1975 under the original title Atentat u Sarajevu . It was published on July 1, 1976 in Czechoslovakia and on December 23, 1976 in the Federal Republic of Germany.
The film was first seen in New York on January 23, 1977, in Poland on November 26, 1977, in the German Democratic Republic on January 13, 1978, in Colombia on May 18, 1978 and in Hungary on October 5, 1978.
Two years after the cinema premiere, the film was shown on Československá televize on Czechoslovak television. On February 10, 1980 it was shown for the first time on GDR television under the title Das Assentat von Sarajevo . The 129-minute first broadcast took place in two parts. It had its DVD premiere in the Czech Republic in October 2007. On October 23, 2014 the film was presented at the Zagreb Film Festival.
The film was also released in Chile, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Serbia and Venezuela. The international titles are: The Assassination at Sarajevo and The Day That Shook the World respectively .
criticism
AH Weiler of the New York Times said that despite a great title, the film was more curious than explosive. The fragmented revival of the past develops largely as a painterly adventure and not as a courageous, convincing story, even if it was created in authentic locations. The compilation was confusing both with regard to Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, as well as with regard to the conspirators and the nationalist problems and royal machinations that were burning on the nails, which ultimately led to this fateful day. The hatred of Bosnian, Serbian, Muslim and other nationalities is only hinted at by the Habsburg dominance, as is the motives of the apparently educated, mostly young, student conspirators. The photos of the Archduke couple showed a fairly mature couple, while Christopher Plummer and Florinda Bolkan presented a strikingly photogenic royal couple who are loving. Maximilian Schell gives his role of the tortured, hapless bearded revolutionary an oppressive determination. Irfan Mensur plays Gavrilo Princip, who fired the fatal shots, as an inhibited guy. Unfortunately, cameraman Jan Čuřík captured the charm of an operetta-like landscape with vintage cars, colorful uniforms and mock battles that playfully presented soldiers in maneuvers.
On the Angelfire - Sgt. Slaughter goes to War page , the film is apostrophized as loud and boisterous, but surprisingly boring and flat. Even some great actors couldn't help it. The last ten minutes of the film are exciting and engaging and show a bittersweet climax with a sad result. But the dramatic effect of these scenes is also reduced by the fact that there was only a lack of character development before. Although this is a historically correct film, it has not been given any creative freedom, so the tension falls by the wayside. Although it is a well-meaning film, it takes itself too seriously and fails to draw the audience into its story.
The lexicon of international films wrote that it was about a "technically solid preparation of the events [the] feature film with melodramatic accents, which, however, did not succeed in making the historical meaning of the event understandable."
Awards
- 1976: Award for Veljko Bulajić at the San Sebastián International Film Festival , where he received a special mention.
- 1976: Yugoslavian entry for an Oscar in the category "Best Non-English Language Film" without making it into the final selection.
Web links
- The day that changed the world in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The day that changed the world in the German dubbing index
- ↑ The Assassination attempt in Sarajevo (2 parts) / The day that changed the world (1975) sS fernsehenderddr.de
- ↑ AH Weiler: 'The Day That Shook World' A Quaint Film In: The New York Times , January 24, 1977 (English). Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ↑ The Day that Shook the World sS angelfire.com (English). Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ↑ The day that changed the world. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .