Death suits her well
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Death suits her well |
| Original title | Death Becomes Her |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1992 |
| length | 99 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Robert Zemeckis |
| script |
Martin Donovan , David Koepp |
| production |
Joan R. Bradshaw , Steve Starkey , Robert Zemeckis |
| music | Alan Silvestri |
| camera | Dean Cundey |
| cut | Arthur Schmidt |
| occupation | |
| |
Death Becomes Her (Original title: Death Becomes Her) is an American movie from the year 1992 . Directed led Robert Zemeckis , the writer wrote Martin Donovan and David Koepp . The main roles were played by Goldie Hawn , Meryl Streep and Bruce Willis . The film opened in German cinemas on December 17, 1992.
action
The on cosmetic surgery specialist physician Ernest Menville leaves his fiancee Helen Sharp for the actress Madeline Ashton, whom he married later. After seven years, an overweight and mentally ill Helen still cannot forget the betrayal and decides to take revenge on Madeline and win back Ernest.
Another seven years pass. Ernest, now a well-known thanatopractor , leads a miserable life with an embittered Madeline who constantly humiliates him due to his weak character and neglected fitness. One day the couple receives an invitation to a book release party hosted by Helen, where the three of them meet again. The hostess looks younger and more attractive than she did before, despite the fact that it has been over a decade since they last met, as the ravages of time have noticeably gnawed at Madeline. Although she pretends to have never been angry with her competitor, the now handsome Helen incites Ernest, who is tormented by his wife, against her.
Especially when one of her lovers leaves her with the words that he is uncomfortable with being seen with a significantly older woman, Madeline does everything in her power to regain her former beauty. She buys an elixir from the enigmatic Lisle Von Rhoman that promises eternal youth and immediately shows its effect. In return, she would have to promise to withdraw from the public eye after ten years before people can become suspicious. Lisle warns her client to take good care of her body as she will keep it for a long time.
Meanwhile, Helen manages to persuade Ernest to kill Madeline and make the murder look like an accident. When she comes home, an argument breaks out between the couple, as a result of which the former doctor pushes his wife down the stairs. Due to conspicuous breaks and the fact that he cannot detect a pulse on her, he assumes that he has killed his wife and proudly calls Helen, who, however, is not very enthusiastic, as the overturning of her sophisticated plan causes new complications. Nobody would believe Ernest that his wife would have accidentally fallen down the steps if he first contacted a friend rather than the official authorities.
However, during the phone call, Madeline straightened up. Although her head was turned 180 degrees, she survived the attack - the magic potion not only makes you younger, it also makes you immortal . After she forcibly corrects her neck, Ernest drives her to an emergency clinic, where, to the horror of everyone involved, it is diagnosed that she is basically dead. After some turbulence, through which Madeline, who was actually only passed out, was brought to the morgue, the couple drives back home, where Ernest uses his skills as a thanatopractor to restore his wife, who has now literally become pale.
Suddenly Helen appears in the villa and meets Ernest. Assuming Madeline is dead and unaware of the events, she mentions the murder plan and talks about making the corpse disappear, which is heard from the undead actress. She then shoots a hole in Helen’s stomach with a shotgun, but she also survived the attack - she also drank the magic potion, which explains her youthful appearance. The two women engage in a bitter fight in which their bodies are increasingly disfigured; the elixir prevents death no matter how severe the injuries are. At the end of the argument, however, the two speak for the first time after years of rivalry and admit their mistakes, whereupon they reconcile.
Ernest has had enough of all of this and doesn't want to stay with either of the two, but first straighten their bodies one last time. In the future they would still need someone to fix them; they therefore want Ernest to drink the elixir and stay with them forever. They hand him a glass of alcohol with an anesthetic in it, which Ernest throws away with the remark that he wants to stop drinking. The women eventually overpower him and take him to Lisle Von Rhoman's house, where a party is taking place that includes some celebrities who have ingested the potion and faked their own death. There, Ernest wants to seduce Ernest to drink the elixir, but he refuses, since he has the disadvantages of eternal life, such as surviving any severe physical damage, as was the case with Helen and Madeline, or loneliness due to the death of friends, recognizes. He tries to escape, which is anything but easy given the energy of his pursuers, but can ultimately escape the women.
37 years later he dies of old age. He married again, had a few more children, was adventurous until the end of his life and set up several charitable foundations. The clergyman talks about how Ernest lived forever in the memory of his descendants and friends. The defaced Madeline and Helen attend his memorial service. They eventually leave the church and fall down a flight of stairs, their bodies breaking in pieces - but they are still alive.
criticism
epd Film was of the opinion that the film offered “a plot that could hardly be imagined more daring, three actors who have to charge what they've got (all three have never been better off); and a staging that exaggerates, exaggerates and exaggerates with relish and unrestrainedly ”. It is "pure comic book cinema, a firework of surreal effects and ingenious ideas".
“An initially pitch-black comedy, which in the second part silts up into a series of more or less enjoyable film tricks, whose tendency to become independent cannot be overlooked. Thanks to the three brilliant main actors, it is still a considerable pleasure. "
Awards
The film won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects ( Doug Chiang , Ken Ralston , Douglas Smythe and Tom Woodruff Jr. ). In the same category he won the Saturn Award of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, which was also awarded to Isabella Rossellini for best supporting actress. The film was also nominated for a Saturn Award in seven other categories, including Robert Zemeckis as director, Bruce Willis and Meryl Streep as actors, Alan Silvestri as composer, Martin Donovan and David Koepp as screenwriters.
Meryl Streep was nominated for a Golden Globe . The film also won the BAFTA Award for Best Visual Effects .
The German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating particularly valuable.
background
The song Me in the musical scene at the beginning of the film was sung by Meryl Streep himself. In the German dubbing he is interpreted by Angelika Milster . With a budget of $ 55 million, Death is worth a good $ 149 million.
Others
When asked when she consumed the elixir, Helen replied “26. October 1985 ". This is an allusion to the Back to the Future trilogy, the plot of which takes place that day and which Robert Zemeckis also directed.
literature
- Annette Kilzer (Ed.): Bruce Willis. Dieter Bertz Verlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-929470-70-5 , pp. 179-181, 287-288.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Death suits her well. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed April 24, 2017 .
- ^ Death Becomes Her at Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 4, 2010 .
Web links
- Death Becomes Her in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Death Becomes Her at Rotten Tomatoes (English)