The mysterious treasure of Troy
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The mysterious treasure of Troy |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language |
German , English |
| Publishing year | 2007 |
| length | 180 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Dror Zahavi |
| script | Don Bohlinger |
| production | Ariane Krampe |
| music |
Eckart Gadow , Jörg Lemberg , Ralf Wienrich |
| camera | Gero Steffen |
| cut | Fritz Busse |
| occupation | |
| |
The two-part television film The Mysterious Treasure of Troy (international title: Hunt for Troy) is devoted to the most ambitious archaeological project of the 19th century - the discovery of the ancient city of Troy - in an epic narrative style (including based on motifs from the Irving Stone novel The Greek Treasure ) as well as its financier, Heinrich Schliemann .
action
Heinrich Schliemann, who already dreamed of the battle for Troy as a boy and believes the legends about Achilles, Hector and the beautiful Helena, is planning to excavate the walls of Troy in what is now Turkey . Many archaeologists, including the influential Oskar Neumann, smile at Schliemann and dismiss him as a daydreamer.
So that he doesn't go on the expedition alone, the man in his mid-forties decides to marry the 20-year-old Greek Sophia Engastromenos, even though she is in love with Demetrios, who is of the same age. Although neither of them can stand each other at all and there is no talk of love, the arranged marriage is concluded.
In Turkey, Schliemann is confronted with all kinds of problems. He suspects Troy to be in a field, the local owner of which only allows the excavation against payment of a large sum. Oskar Neumann also has an eye on his rival and lets the German Bernsson, who is sitting in a Turkish prison, go to Schliemann's camp as a spy. Schliemann also barely survived an assassination attempt.
But in all the turbulent times, Heinrich and Sophia are getting closer and closer. From initial aversion, love develops. And when they discovered Priam's treasure together and brought it to Germany , Schliemann had reached the goal of his dreams.
Background information
- The filming of the 8.3 million euro two-parter took place in Germany as well as in Croatia and on Rhodes . The largest film set ever erected in Europe, the Troy excavation site, was made in Oberkrämer . The equipment team needed three months to construct the 150 × 70 meter set. For this, 20,000 cubic meters of sand had to be made available. The scenes set in Turkey were filmed in Croatia, and the Schliemann couple's wedding in Rhodes.
- The scenes at the German imperial court were created in Sanssouci Palace near Potsdam .
- Since the French Mélanie Doutey does not speak German, scenes with her and the lead actor Heino Ferch were shot in English.
- Furthermore, the idea that Schliemann was the only one who believed in a real Troy around 1870 is based on his own memoirs. Since Troy has received authentic evidence from antiquity and the early Middle Ages, it was never considered a myth; only the exact location was disputed, but as early as 1822 Charles MacLaren wrote an extensive treatise on the location of Troy in Hissarlik . A few years before Schliemann, Frank Calvert was the first to start excavations in Hissarlik, but because of lack of money he brought in the wealthy Schliemann, who had previously searched for Troy in Balli Dag without success.
Narrative dramaturgy
- Despite the efforts made by the film team with regard to contemporary correct setting and authenticity, large parts of the plot are fictional in order to achieve the highest possible level of dramatic tension .
- The narrative dramaturgy of the film reflects influences from the literary genres epic , romance and narrative . The visualization of the motifs in many scenes draws on pictorial compositions from European painting from the 17th to the 19th centuries, especially Orientalism , the film music is based on Mozart (Voi avete un cor fedele), Haydn, Smetana ( Die Moldau ), Tchaikovsky to the musical taste of the time depicted. (see also art reception )
- The epic narrative style is underlined by the rhythmically bound language of all the main characters, which consistently follows a four- beat . Imperceptibly but deliberately, the style of language alludes to the original tone of the Homeric Iliad , which is written in a bound rhythm of verse.
- The initial characterization of Schliemann as a man whose maxim is to be the best and superior to others is also based on Homer. ( Aien aristeuein kai hypeirochon emmenai allon - here based on the correctness of his own opinion of the truth of the geographic location in the Iliad for Troy.) In the course of the film, however, the film character Schliemann acquires the four characteristics of the Homeric hero. These are: aidós (respect and consideration): in front of the rights of the locals and workers, in front of the person of Sophia's companion, éleos (pity): with the sick workers of his camp, kléos (fame): with the treasure of Priam and timé ( Honor): in front of the academy's scholars at home in Berlin.
Reviews
"The elaborately staged, but boring to kitschy photographed and clumsily staged television film provides one of the greatest archaeological discoveries with a number of decorative and adventurous facets."
"The script and direction deliver an irony-free, embarrassingly pathetic and naive robber pistol with heart pain inlays. The Schliemann couple, their archaeological and erotic entanglements, are oozing the arduous urge to keep the audience engaged every second . "
"The embodiment of the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann (1822–1890) was a long-cherished personal wish of the mime; he pursued the project for five years until the multi-million dollar two-parter filmed in Brandenburg, Rhodes and Croatia was implemented. Produced by the event specialists by the company TeamWorx and staged by director Dror Zahavi, (..), the plot runs off exactly as one might expect: the treasure hunt shimmers in "Indiana Jones" fashion, an uninterrupted orchestral sound sauce over the Expedition, and the wire-rimmed researcher is shown as an egomaniac with approaches to ambivalence, but of course given a sufficiently large sympathy factor to be seen as a figure of identification for 90 minutes twice. "
"Heino Ferch gives Schliemann an ambivalent figure: as a determined businessman and self-marketer, who does not shy away from enhancing his own biography, who makes money with arms deals in order to realize his dream: to find Homer's Troy. And he gives it as macho: Schliemann, who has been divorced twice, buys a 19-year-old Greek woman and marries her against her will. Here too - as in other history films such as "The Tunnel" or "The Miracle of Lengede" - the 43-year-old Ferch not only proves it his acting perfection, the former gymnast and passionate rider also shows his sporty side. " Hans-Ulrich Pönack for Deutschlandradio.de
"The two-part series by director Dror Zahavi - he already worked with Ferch and Sat.1 on" Die Luftbrücke "- is based directly on a suggestion by the popular actor, who makes this bulky figure his own. Heino Ferch proves it that he is an excellent rider and swimmer - which enhances the adventure aspect and ensures beautiful pictures (camera: Gero Steffen).
Overall, Schliemann is only little glorified. His chauvinism is thematized in Don Bohlinger's script as well as his brutal approach to excavations and the one-sidedness of his interpretations of the finds. The fact that one lives with him and digs with him is due, in addition to Ferch's portrayal, to Mélanie Doutey ("Clara Sheller"), who embodies Schliemann's wife Sophia with a lot of obstinacy, heart, mind and a gripping nature.
After a short prologue, which tells the enthusiasm of young Heinrich for the Troy saga, the two-parter told by Zahavi sovereignly and partly with cinema pictures begins when the adult Schliemann begins a new phase of life in which he not only wants to find Troy, but is also looking for a new wife.
The first encounter between Schliemann and Sophia is one of the most beautiful scenes of the first part, which suggests that the marriage will be characterized by partly bitter, partly humorous verbal battles between the two. " Film review (sw) on kino.de
Differences between reality and fiction
The film is based on the life of Heinrich Schliemann .
- There was no assassination attempt on Heinrich Schliemann, nor were there any conflicts with robbers, saboteurs or even spies.
- Oskar Neumann, Heinrich Schliemann's scheming rival, is a fictional character. The figure of Oskar Neumann seems to be based on the Berlin ancient historian and archaeologist Ernst Curtius , who had excellent relationships with the Prussian court.
- Schliemann only had problems with the Turkish government because of his excavations.
- Demetrius, who loves Sophia, is a fictional character.
- There is considerable fictional freedom with the times in the film. For example, Schliemann doesn't even know Sophia in the scene where he measures the water temperature in the streams.
- Rudolf Virchow only played a role in Schliemann from 1875, in the film even before the Troy campaign began.
Web links
- The Hunt for Troy in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Detailed presentation of the film and the shooting on SAT.1
swell
- ^ Journal film-dienst and Catholic Film Commission for Germany (eds.), Horst Peter Koll and Hans Messias (ed.): Lexikon des Internationale Films - Filmjahr 2007 . Schüren Verlag, Marburg 2008. ISBN 978-3-89472-624-9
- ↑ Dieter Bartetzko: A man named Indiana Schliemann . In the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of March 19, 2007
- ↑ Peter Luley for spiegel.de