The Beggar Opera (1953)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The beggar opera |
| Original title | The Beggar's Opera |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1953 |
| length | 94 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Peter Brook |
| script |
Christopher Fry Dennis Cannan |
| production |
Laurence Olivier Herbert Wilcox |
| music | Arthur Bliss |
| camera | Guy Green |
| cut | Reginald Beck |
| occupation | |
| |
The Beggar Opera is a 1952 British music and costume film directed by Peter Brook with Laurence Olivier in the lead role. The film is based on John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728).
action
A beggar who is both a poet and a composer is sent to Newgate Prison for begging. He brings an abundance of written papers with him. It is about the sheet music of an opera, the focus of which is the devious mugger Captain MacHeath. According to the poetic freedom of this piece of music, he was a devil dressed in a red coat who would rob and beguile women at the same time and whom no one could catch. The truth, however, is very different, as the fellow prisoners show: MacHeath is among them, and a poor, ragged fellow who was here in chains. The villainous robber chief awaits his execution the following morning. But since he has nothing better to do, he takes the beggar's notes and begins to sing "his" opera. Soon the other prisoners are also taken and become part of this beggar opera. The provisional performance of the new work can begin:
The focus of the story is on the "heroic deeds" of Captain MacHeath, to whom - this is the artistic freedom of a composer - many a charming and nonchalantly performed crook is ascribed. The Opera MacHeath ambushes a carriage and steals not only a medallion, but also the kiss of an elegant, beautiful lady. His wife, Polly Peachum, is waiting at home, languishing at the jack-of-all-trades. Polly's parents did not know about the secret wedding of their daughter to the robber captain and are therefore not in agreement with this marriage. However, wanting to take advantage of it, they convince the unsuspecting Polly to set a trap for MacHeath so that the authorities arrest the noble villain and the Peachums can pocket a reward. Late but not too late, Polly is able to warn her husband of the ambush, and so after a brief skirmish, the latter escapes the henchmen who were hounded on him by the Peachums. By a trick of the whore Jenny and her friends, MacHeath ends up in state custody.
However, through Lucy, a girl he had once broken the heart, MacHeath is soon released again as he promises to marry her. Unfortunately, his wife Polly joins them, and MacHeath introduces the two of them without going into detail. In the disguise of a lord, the robber escapes and hides in a casino. Here he also hopes that he will no longer have to meet Lucy, who would otherwise be sure to demand marriage to him. Nevertheless, you can quickly get hold of it again. When Lucy and Polly visit him again in his cell, he sees no more reason to talk to either of the two about the tiresome subject of marriage, as he will soon be hanging out anyway. The next morning, MacHeath, sitting on his prepared coffin, is driven to the gallows. Under the rope he kisses Lucy and Polly again. His eyes are blindfolded and he bravely awaits his fate. The unfinished beggar opera ends here.
MacHeath is outraged: So now he should hang twice! - first in the opera and then in a very real way. No, he doesn't agree with that at all. After a moment's consideration, the beggar composer agrees, and so the prisoners' choir rises and demands a pardon for MacHeath. Soon the entire cell is shaking. The prison guard then looks to see if everything is going well to find out the cause of the noise in the communal cell. MacHeath uses this moment to escape, and he rides a stolen horse that was supposed to transport him on the coffin to the gallows, to freedom. The robber captain sings happily as he leaves London at a gallop that he only owes his freedom to the beggar opera.
Production notes
The beggar opera was written in 1952 and premiered on June 9, 1953 in London. The film opened in Germany on April 2, 1954. The German television premiere took place on August 14, 1967 on ARD .
Georges Wakhévitch and William C. Andrews created the film structures. The very young Peter Mullins was part of the drawing team, Austin Dempster was one of several simple cameramen under the direction of Guy Green .
Reviews
“The film is many things in one: 'great opera' with an excellent adaptation of Johann Christoph Pepusch's original music (from 1728) by Arthur Bliss, fast-paced adventure film with an ironic-romantic hero (Olivier) in the lead role, intelligent paraphrase about poetry and truth . (…) All in all, 'The beggar's opera' is one of the few successful opera adaptations. "
In the lexicon of international films it says: "The English folk opera by John Gay ... who also took the plot for his 'Threepenny Opera' from Brecht, slightly modified, as an intelligent, romantic-ironic costume adventure with a glamorous cast."
“Brook made his film debut here with a lively, energetic version of John Gay's opera. Co-producer and star Olivier is somehow wrongly cast, but then more than makes up for it with a cunning portrayal of an indented mugger who cannibalizes his 'heroic deeds' in a music revue. "
"Excessively shortened version of the weak opera from 1728, which is generally sympathetic, but lacks a strong, coherent approach and is marred by an intrusive color scheme and an uneven, theatrical presentation."
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Beggar Opera. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 24, 2018 .
Web links
- The Beggar's Opera in the Internet Movie Database (English)