The good soldier Schwejk (1960)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The good soldier Schweik |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1960 |
| length | 96 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Axel von Ambesser |
| script | Hans Jacoby |
| production | Artur Brauner |
| music | Bernhard Eichhorn |
| camera | Richard fear |
| cut |
Angelica Appel , Hermann Haller |
| occupation | |
| |
The Good Soldier Schweik is a German film adaptation of the novel of the same by Jaroslav Hašek from 1960. Directed by Axel von Ambesser is Heinz Rühmann seen in the title role.
action
The Bohemian survival artist Schwejk earns his living in Prague as a dog dealer. He is to be sent to prison for insulting majesty . However, since he is believed to be insane , he is instead put in the state insane asylum. There he is examined by three doctors for his physical and mental well-being. When one of the doctors reports that he is a simulant, Schweik assures him that he is “an officially recognized idiot”.
When the First World War broke out in 1914 , he was drafted into the army of Austria-Hungary as a simple soldier . Because he had rheumatism , he was assigned to lieutenant Lukasch as an officer's boy. He does his best not to be transferred to the front and instead to pass his time with card games and beautiful women. He has a relationship with the married Kathi. When he wants to get rid of her, he has Schwejk send a telegram to Kathi's husband, who then furiously picks up his wife. After Lukasch gambled away all of his money and Schwejk on a card game to a colonel, Schweik buys himself off with his money and goes back to Lukasch.
At Lukasch's request, Schwejk procures a terrier . Lukasch is happy about the dog, even though his cat falls victim to him. When Lukasch goes for a walk with the terrier and a pretty girl named Gretl, he meets his superior, who happens to be the dog's actual owner. Lukasch, who is actually supposed to train recruits and thus wants to avoid an early death in war, is accused of stealing dogs, and is transferred to Budweis . On the train ride to Budweis, Schwejk pulls the emergency brake and, since he has no money to pay the necessary fine, has to get off at the next stop. From there he went on foot to Ceske Budejovice, but got lost and was arrested as a deserter, ultimately even mistaken for a Russian spy. However, due to his naivety and clumsiness, he is soon released.
When he wants to put himself back in the service of Lieutenant Lukasch, it turns out that he already has a new servant named Baloun. However, he entrusted Schweik with a letter to a lover. Shortly before Schwejk wants to deliver the letter, he meets his old friend Voditschka and they get drunk. When it is already dark, Schweik finally wants to get rid of the letter. However, Mr Kokonyi, the recipient's husband, has since returned home and is receiving the letter. To protect Lukasch, Schweik pretends to have written the letter himself.
Lukasch and Schweik are eventually transferred to the Russian front. When they are being shot at by enemy troops on the battlefield, Schwejk finds a four-leaf clover and gives it to Lukasch to bring him luck. Immediately afterwards Lukasch is fatally hit, whereupon Schwejk carries him from the battlefield under shell fire. In a cornfield he befriends a Russian soldier, they exchange their uniforms. Schwejk is captured in Austria and is said to be shot as a deserter and defector. At the last second, the news comes that the war is over. Schwejk returns home and meets Voditschka, who lost a leg in the war, in his local pub. Despite the major global political events, everything ultimately stayed the same for Schweik.
background
The shooting took place in Vienna and Krems an der Donau . Isabella and Werner Schlichting were responsible for the production . The world premiere took place on September 22nd, 1960 in Cologne . Seven years later, the film was first shown on television on August 13, 1967.
The Russian soldier Boris, with whom Schwejk befriends, was played by Fritz Muliar , who later took on the role of the good soldier Schwejk himself for the series " The Adventures of the Good Soldier Schwejk ", which is more true to the novel .
criticism
"Under Ambesser's conventional direction, a film was made in Reader's Digest style," said the lexicon of international films . Heinz Rühmann played “the Schwejk at least lovable, mischievously with a wink” and “primarily with quiet means”. According to the Protestant film observer , the film shows "Heinz Rühmann in a brilliant role". It is about "a time satire that is wholesome for our present" and that is "recommended to adults".
Claudius Seidl summed up that director Ambesser did not recognize or did not want to admit "how much malice, how much bitter irony and sarcasm there is in Hašek's original." Ambesser had made Hašek's subversive story "a harmless little film with downright state-supporting humor".
Awards
In 1962, The Good Soldier Schwejk was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film for the Golden Globe . However, it was defeated by Vittorio De Sica's film drama And Yet They Live ( La ciociara , 1960).
Web links
- The Good Soldier Schweik in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The good soldier Schwejk at filmportal.de
- Pictures of the film on cinema.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ The good soldier Schweik. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Protestant film observer . Evangelical Press Association Munich, Review No. 652/1960.
- ^ The German film of the fifties by Claudius Seidl. Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-453-86102-7 , p. 155 ff.