The vicious circle (1956)

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Movie
Original title The vicious circle
Country of production GDR
original language German
Publishing year 1956
length 103 minutes
Rod
Director Carl Balhaus
script Carl Balhaus
production DEFA
music Günter Klück
camera Hans Hauptmann
cut Ursula Kahlbaum
occupation

The vicious circle is a German DEFA film by Carl Balhaus from 1956. It deals with the fire in the Reichstag and the subsequent show trial in 1933.

action

Shortly after the seizure of power of Adolf Hitler in early 1933 preparations are under way, which should make the members of the socialist and communist parties silenced. After bribery by SA men, clairvoyant Erik Jan Hanussen swears that he sees a large building in flames, and the Obergruppenführer of the SA, Count Helldorf, wins the trust of the apparently radical, but in reality mentally ill Dutchman Marinus van der Lubbe , who is convinced a big fire will send out a starting signal. A little later the Reichstag building was on fire. In addition to Marinus van der Lubbe, SA men in particular were involved in setting the various sources of fire. That same night, at the instigation of Count Helldorf, a mass arrest of KPD and SPD members by the SA takes place. Although the Social Democratic MP Wilhelm Lüring was warned by his son Paul, he refused to flee because he had never had radical views and was held in human terms by the National Socialists. Shortly afterwards he is arrested by the SA.

Together with numerous other KPD and SPD members as well as the Jewish doctor Dr. Meyerheim held in a collecting cell for several months without charge or interrogation. The defendants are later gradually brought for questioning. After the Communist MP Theo Neubauer was beaten up and brought back to the collecting cell, it was Wilhelm Lüring's turn. The National Socialists wanted to set an example on the occasion of the Reichstag fire and organize a show trial to publicly condemn those responsible for the fire. In addition to van der Lubbe, they were able to locate five other suspects, but they lack evidence of a common culprit that never actually existed. Wilhelm Lüring is asked about the day of the fire and about certain people. He admits to having seen a man classified as suspect in the lobby of the Reichstag in conversation with an elderly gentleman. However, this was not van der Lubbe, who was much too young. Only under torture does Wilhelm Lüring think he saw the suspect with van der Lubbe. Now he is considered the key witness of the trial and is being held in special detention in Leipzig. His wife can also visit him here.

The show trial begins and becomes a farce. Van der Lubbe cannot make a meaningful statement because he was sedated while in custody . One of the five suspects, the Bulgarian in exile and convinced communist Georgi Dimitrov , who has already been sentenced to death in his home country, stands up against the lies and slander , exposes the prosecution's witnesses and appears as his own defense lawyer. After a few days, the live broadcast of the negotiation is canceled. Even Count Helldorf and Hermann Göring are convicted of lying by Dimitrov and driven into a corner. Wilhelm Lüring is impressed by Dimitrow's courage. He is visited in prison by his wife, who tries to get him to retract his testimony against van der Lubbe at the instigation of his children Paul and Marta. In the end, Wilhelm Lüring revokes his testimony in court and gives the reason that Dimitrov's behavior gave him the courage to face the truth. He is deported to a concentration camp where the other socialists are already imprisoned. Badly mistreated, he dies in the arms of his comrades. Meanwhile, the process continues, at the end of which Dimitrov makes a plea for the victory of the working class.

production

The vicious circle originated from the play The vicious circle by Hedda Zinner . In the film, the title refers to the vicious cycle of the prosecution, who can name a witness for each of the five defendants who claims to have seen you with another defendant until the circle is complete. The film was shot in 1955 and premiered on January 13, 1956 both in the Babylon cinema in Berlin and in the DEFA film theater Kastanienallee. Original newsreel recordings from the Nazi era were partially cut into the film.

The role of Marinus van der Lubbe was after an extra role in Ernst Thälmann - Leader in his class, the first major screen appearance of the future DEFA star Fred Delmare and meant his breakthrough as a film actor. Delmare had previously played the role of van der Lubbe in a production at the Leipziger Schauspielhaus . The film also became the directorial debut of the actor Carl Balhaus .

criticism

The contemporary critics praised the fact that the film was not a mere filming of the play and thus a schematic film adaptation. "The scenes of action are effectively expanded, the actors' guidance is clean and clear, the rearrangement and reintegration of a number of scenes have been skilfully managed." Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler found that "it has undoubtedly succeeded in bringing a large part of the historical and stage events into the cinematic to implement. "

"Although politically determined historical records are questionable and critical, the film is nevertheless a partially impressive free adaptation of an important chapter of contemporary German history," said the film service . Ralf Schenk called the film “aesthetically rather conservative”.

The Interministerial Committee for East-West Film Issues forbade the showing in the Federal Republic of Germany.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ F.-B. Habel : The great lexicon of DEFA feature films . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-349-7 , pp. 609 .
  2. ^ Peter Edel in BZ in the evening , January 19, 1956.
  3. ↑ Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler in: Filmspiegel , No. 3, 1956, p. 3.
  4. ↑ The vicious circle. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  5. ↑ Ralf Schenk: In the middle of the Cold War 1950 to 1960 . In: Ralf Schenk (Red.), Filmmuseum Potsdam (Hrsg.): The second life of the film city Babelsberg. DEFA feature films 1946–1992 . Henschel, Berlin 1994, p. 119.
  6. ↑ Stefan Buchloh Pervers, endangering young people, subversive. Censorship in the Adenauer era as a mirror of the social climate . Frankfurt 2002, pp. 224-226