The little wizard and the big five
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The little wizard and the big five |
| Country of production | GDR |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1977 |
| length | 67 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Erwin Stranka |
| script | Erwin Stranka scenario |
| production | DEFA , KAG "Babelsberg" |
| music | Uve Schikora |
| camera | Peter Brand |
| cut | Barbara Simon |
| occupation | |
| |
The little magician and the big five is a German children's film of the DEFA of Erwin Stranka from 1977. Occasionally he is also numbered among the DEFA fairy tale films.
action
For the Schneidewind family, magic is part of everyday life: Father Schneidewind works in a magic wand factory, while mother Schneidewind can fulfill all of the customer's shoe wishes with magic in her shoe shop. Son Oliver, who is in fourth grade, on the other hand, still got his problems with magic and in magic science a straight 5. In four days he is supposed to show teacher Fiebig his parents' signature, but wants to spare the family the shame of the censorship.
During the four days he tries everything possible to make the 5 disappear. When trying to turn the 5 into at least a 3, suddenly five talking guinea pigs appear in his room . On the next attempt, Oliver conjures singing, red checkered geese into his room. When even his classmates turn away from him because he has no more time to play because of all the magic, he finally confesses his censorship to his parents, who had already become suspicious. Although father's magic also fails with a 5, mother Schneidewind has advice: If Oliver manages to write a 1 in the next three works, the bad 5 turns into a 2 on average in the end.
production
The little magician and the big five is based on the children's book of the same name by Uwe Kant . The shooting took place in and around Potsdam . You can see the Saarmunder glider airfield, the former Ernst-Thälmann-Schule in the center of Potsdam, the Platz der Einheit , the Stahnsdorf semiconductor plant and the Bruno-Baum-Straße. The DEFA outdoor area and a dental practice in the DEFA building also served as shooting locations in order to keep the transport costs of the film low.
The film premiered on February 4, 1977 in the Palast Theater in Jena . Director Erich Stranka had previously dealt with magical elements in everyday life for Susanne and the magic ring .
criticism
The contemporary criticism criticized the fact that the film was a “manageable ... and very little action-packed ... story”: “Already from the middle there are no more new aspects, so there is no lack of repetitions in different clothes, fun and joy diminish, fatigue is that Episode. "The story seems" flat and colorless, except for the few moments in which people are really enchanted and enchanted "; the film is a "blown up story, whose viscous comedy strains the stomach muscles only a little".
Other critics, however, praised the film's "many imaginative gags and purrs". In retrospect, Frank-Burkhard Habel wrote in 2000 that the film “inconsistently implements the morals of the well-known children's book, but still offers many funny passages”.
For film-dienst , The Little Magician and the Big Five was a "contemporary fairy tale that alternates between fantasy and didactics."
literature
- Frank-Burkhard Habel : The great lexicon of DEFA feature films. The complete documentation of all DEFA feature films from 1946 to 1993. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-349-7 , p. 328.
- The little wizard and the big five . In: Ingelore König, Dieter Wiedemann, Lothar Wolf (eds.): Between Marx and Muck. DEFA films for children . Henschel, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-89487-234-9 , pp. 226-228.
- The little wizard and the big five . In: DEFA Foundation (ed.): The DEFA fairy tale films . Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt am Main 2010, ISBN 978-3-00-032589-2 , pp. 170-175.
Web links
- The little magician and the big five in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The little magician and the big five at filmportal.de
- The little magician and the big five at the DEFA Foundation
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Little Wizard and the Big Five . In: DEFA Foundation (ed.): The DEFA fairy tale films . Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt am Main 2010, pp. 173, 175.
- ↑ Karla Anders: Magic, poetry and the tumult of war . In: Filmspiegel , No. 12, 1977, p. 10.
- ↑ The Little Wizard and the Big Five . In: Ingelore König, Dieter Wiedemann, Lothar Wolf (eds.): Between Marx and Muck. DEFA films for children . Henschel, Berlin 1996, p. 227.
- ^ The Union , February 14, 1977.
- ^ Frank-Burkhard Habel : The large lexicon of DEFA feature films. The complete documentation of all DEFA feature films from 1946 to 1993. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-349-7 , p. 328.
- ↑ The Little Wizard and the Big Five. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .