The young Medardus (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The young Medardus |
| Country of production | Austria |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1923 |
| length | 136 (1923) 102 (existing version) minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Michael Kertesz |
| script | Ladislaus Vajda based on the play of the same name (1910) by Arthur Schnitzler |
| production | Sascha Kolowrat-Krakowsky |
| camera |
Gustav Ucicky Eduard von Borsody |
| occupation | |
| |
The young Medardus is an Austrian silent film from 1923 based on the play of the same name by Arthur Schnitzler . Directed by Michael Kertesz .
action
In 1809, at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. The young Viennese student Medardus Klähr, son of a bookseller's widow, decided to fight against Napoleon's advancing troops. He gets into a fateful conflict with the noble Valois family, whose daughter Helene also wants revenge on the French emperor. From disappointment to the murder of his beloved, Medardus first becomes Napoleon's involuntary protector, later his potential assassin. After his execution he is celebrated as a patriotic hero.
Production notes
The young Medardus passed film censorship on September 8, 1923 and premiered on October 5, 1923. The seven-act film was around 3400 meters long and was banned from school (in accordance with the German youth ban).
Julius von Borsody and Artur Berger created the film structures.
criticism
“Since then the more distinguished circles of art and literature have deigned to notice (it wasn't long ago) that films were made in Vienna, since then we have often heard the criticism that our film art does not have enough national character. I don't know whether these gentlemen know enough about film to be able to correctly judge a characteristic, but they should have a look at YOUNG MEDARDUS on a trial basis. (...) In this Kertesz film they can now study what is more specifically Austrian Direction style is. Unfortunately, we can only briefly point out this in this review. It is above all this wonderfully romantic and picturesque quality of the pictures. A tumult of shadows and lights in the depth perspective (mostly premierplan dark and secondary plan light), which seems to come from the rough, velvety pathos of the Viennese late baroque. (...) The German directional style is already looking for painterly effects, but mostly by draping and preparing the theme, the motif, which is sometimes increased to the expressionism of a CALIGARI film. The Viennese director stylized his motif only with lighting, only paints with the device. Kertesz doesn't do anything either. But his pictures are a moving picture gallery: every snapshot, complete in itself, calls for a frame. (…) This film probably contains the largest and most beautiful war painting that cinematography has produced so far. Unfortunately, this great and massive historical framework crushes the actual drama of the young Medardus, although this in and of itself would be extremely filmable and grateful. The fact that no room was left for 'acting out' is particularly damaging in this case, because the story, which is moved by emotional motives, often becomes incomprehensible as a result. (...) The fact that Kertesz was primarily concerned with this visual effect proves that after the end of Medardus and the actual dramatic plot, his great mass visions continued. The film is also played well. The types are selected with American care. Mr. Varkonyi has that hot and masculine poetry that can express the highest sensitivity without sentimentality. "
In Paimann's film lists it can be read: “The subject starts well in the first acts, but then flattens out a bit, the presentation is quite nice. The generous and well-designed presentation undoubtedly deserves full recognition, as is the photographic implementation in terms of lighting technology. "
Web links
- The young Medardus in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The young Medardus at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ The young Medardus in Paimann's film lists ( Memento of the original from March 25, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
