My mother's ashes (film)

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Movie
German title My mother's ashes
Original title Angela's Ashes
Country of production Ireland , USA
original language English
Publishing year 1999
length 145 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Alan Parker
script Laura Jones ,
Alan Parker.
Based on: Frank McCourt
production David Brown ,
Alan Parker ,
Scott Rudin
music John Williams
camera Michael Seresin
cut Gerry Hambling
occupation
synchronization

The ashes of my mother (original title: Angela's Ashes ) is the film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Frank McCourt , which is about the childhood and youth of the American writer. The leading roles are cast with Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle .

action

Brooklyn 1935: Margaret, the fifth child of the Irish immigrant McCourt family, dies seven weeks after giving birth. Relatives send money for the ship passage so that Angela, her husband Malachy and the children Frank, Malachy, Eugene and Oliver can return to Ireland . In Limerick , Angela's birth town, her mother, Mrs. Sheehan, punishes her unemployed son-in-law from Northern Ireland with contempt. When, after a long time, he finally found work in a cement works , he drinks his wages on the first evening, so misses the second shift and is immediately laid off again.

When Malachy McCourt repairs the holey soles of his two older sons' shoes with pieces from a bicycle tire, the two are mocked at school. If they then fight with their classmates, the teacher mercilessly punishes them with lashes . The family lives on the upper floor in a dilapidated house that they call " Italy ". On the ground floor, called "Ireland", the water is centimeters high when it rains. The toilet is outside and is used by all residents of the street. Father Malachy McCourt is too proud to pick up the pieces of coal that have fallen from wagons on the street , but his wife Angela does. She also begs leftover food from the church and alms from the charity . In desperation, she even borrows some money from Mrs. Finucane at exorbitant interest.

The twins Oliver and Eugene still die of exhaustion. Angela has two more children. The two youngest sons are baptized with the names Michael and Alphie. Frank, the eldest, passes out at confirmation . A doctor diagnoses typhus , but Frank survives. When World War II breaks out and many English men go to war and jobs become vacant, Malachy McCourt takes the train to England to look for work, but the family waits in vain for money transfers from him. Frank hires out at a coal merchant and carries the heavy sacks for a starvation wage. The coal dust ignites his eyes so much that he can no longer continue. When the family is thrown out of the apartment because they cannot pay the rent and they have already burned a partition, Angela's mother takes them to a relative. Cousin Laman Griffin humiliates Frank and demands Angela submit to him. Frank can't watch his mother prostituting herself . He ran away and found a place with his childless aunt Aggie, who suddenly became sentimental and changed his clothes. After finding a job as a telegram messenger, he falls in love with Theresa, three years his senior, who is consumptive and wants to have been with a man before she dies. Soon afterwards she dies in a sanatorium .

Mrs. Finucane becomes aware of the fifteen-year-old and instructs him to write threatening letters to defaulting debtors. He saves the money she gives him for the stamps by delivering the letters himself. Shortly after his 16th birthday, he finds the usury dead in her armchair. He steals her cash, throws her debt book in the water and buys a ship ticket to America.

Publication, background

The film premiered on December 25, 1999 in Los Angeles and New York ; the cinema release in Germany was on March 2, 2000.

Director Alan Parker has a cameo as a doctor in the hospital treating little Frank for typhus.

Compared to the book's immense success , the film's grossing $ 13 million was disappointing.

criticism

"Because despite all the misery, and this is what distinguishes the novel and film, 'My Mother's Ashes' has a graceful, but absolutely kitsch-free warmth that makes life more bearable for Frankie and lets the viewer participate in what is happening."

- Filmstarts .de

"A film in gloomy colors in front of the rain-soaked backdrop of the city of Limerick, which visibly struggles for authenticity, but at best exhibits the subject of poverty as still life and thus deprives a large part of its effect."

- Filmdienst .de

“McCourt's chronicle, however, thrives on her unique narrative voice. It presents the tragic events so vividly, poetically and with humor that the reader never knows whether to cry or laugh - and then usually do both at the same time. But Parker only hits the incomparable tone of the book in the last third. Conclusion: gray and sad as ash. "

- Karl-Heinz Schäfer, Cinema.de

Awards

Oscar 2000

Nominated in the category
  • "Best Score" - John Williams

BAFTA TV Awards

Nominated in the categories
  • "Best Actress" - Emily Watson
  • "Best Cinematography" - Michael Seresin
  • "Best Production Design" - Geoffrey Kirkland

Golden Globes

Nominated in the category
  • "Best Score" - John Williams

Empire Awards

Nominated in the categories
  • "Best English Language Film"
  • "Best English Actor" - Robert Carlyle

International Film Music Critics Award (IFMCA)

Nominated in the category
  • "Film Music of the Year" - John Williams

Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTA)

Won in the categories
  • "Best Feature Film" (IFTA Award)
  • "Best Costumes" - Consolata Boyle
Nominated in the categories
  • "Best Actor" - Robert Carlyle
  • "Best Actress" - Emily Watson

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

Won in the category
  • "Audience Award" - Alan Parker

synchronization

The film was dubbed by Mina Kindl Synchron, Munich. The diaglogbook and direction are from Mina Kindl .

figure actor Voice actor
teller Andrew Bennett Torsten Michaelis
Frank # 1 Joe Breen Daniel Haidinger
Frank # 3 Michael Legge Clemens Ostermann
Malachy (father) Robert Carlyle Gudo Hoegel
Grandmother Sheehan Ronnie Masterson Ursula Traun
Laman Griffin Alvaro Lucchesi Jan Odle
Uncle Pa Keating Liam Carney Ekkehardt Belle
Uncle Pat Eanna MacLiam Tobias Lelle

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The ashes of my mother adS IMDb.com
  2. ↑ Carsten Baumgardt: My mother's ashes. Brief review. filmstarts.de, accessed on March 17, 2017 .
  3. ↑ My mother's ashes. Brief review. filmdienst.de, May 2, 2000, accessed on March 2, 2017 .
  4. ↑ My mother's ashes. Gray is also a color . cinema.de, accessed on March 17, 2017 .
  5. ↑ My mother's ashes. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing index , accessed on September 5, 2017 .