The Thorn Birds (1983)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The thorn birds |
| Original title | The Thorn Birds |
| Country of production | USA , Australia |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1983 |
| length | 463 (140 + 93 + 93 + 137) minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Daryl Duke |
| script | Carmen Culver |
| production |
Stan Margulies , David Wolper |
| music | Henry Mancini |
| camera | Bill Butler |
| cut | David Saxon, Robert F. Shugrue , Carroll Timothy O'Meara |
| occupation | |
| |
The Thorn Birds is an Australian-American television split from 1983 . The plot is based on the novel of the same name by the Australian writer Colleen McCullough from 1977.
action
The Catholic Father Ralph de Bricassart, who has been transferred to Australia as a punishment, has a friendly relationship with the wealthy landowner Mary Carson. One day Mary brings her destitute brother Paddy Cleary and his family from New Zealand to their Drogheda sheep farm and let them work hard there. Mary's niece Meggie Cleary has had great affection for the attractive father, who is also closely connected to her family, since she was a child. Mary, who is in love with Ralph de Bricassart, sees Meggie as a competitor from the start.
After Mary's death, it is not the Clearys but the Catholic Church who inherit her property on the condition that Father Ralph takes over the administration and the Clearys only get lifelong residence. Mary drafted this will with cunning not until the evening before her death, after she had approached Ralph tenderly but was rejected by him. Ralph is now faced with a choice: destroy the will, give the Clearys their right to the entire inheritance and remain a little clergyman for the rest of his life - or accept the fortune and make a career in the church. Ralph opts for the latter and is first called to Sydney and then to Rome .
But Ralph cannot escape the magic of Meggie, who has matured into a woman. Meggie becomes pregnant by Ralph and gives birth to a son named Dane. He also becomes a priest and later dies in Greece at the age of 27 while trying to save two girls from drowning.
The Clearys saga ends in the third generation on the farm "Drogheda" more than half a century later when Meggie's daughter, the brilliant actress Justine, sets out to seek her fortune in Europe.
Figures (selection)
- Mary Elizabeth Carson
Mary Carson got her huge sheep farm Drogheda through marriage. But Drogheda was always just a hobby for the widowed woman. On top of that, she has a whopping £ 13 million net worth, making her one of Australia's richest citizens. She treats her brother Paddy and sister-in-law Fiona condescendingly because of their poverty.
- Ralph de Bricassart
Father Ralph was once exiled from the Church in Australia for disobedience. But he is eaten away by ambition to achieve something higher in the church. Later, the inheritance gives him the opportunity to demonstrate his abilities: he becomes first a bishop and then a cardinal. But the hoped-for election as Pope will not be granted to him.
He is always inwardly torn between his love for Meggie and his love for God, whom he wants to serve through his striving in the church, and he can never really make up his mind. During an island vacation in the Great Barrier Reef , he sleeps with Meggie, who becomes pregnant. Then he returns to the Vatican again. Only when his son Dane dies does he find out about his fatherhood. The last episode ends with him dying on Drogheda in the presence of Meggie. "Somewhere inside I must have known from the very first moment that Dane was my son ..." "Of all my mistakes that I have made, the biggest one was that I did not choose love ..."
- Meghann (Meggie) Cleary (later O'Neill)
As a child she fell in love with Father Ralph. From now on she fought against God and wants to win Ralph over. When this fails, she marries the sheep shearer Luke O'Neill out of spite. He lets her work as a housekeeper for his friends Anne and Ludy. Justine emerges from this marriage. Despite their marriage, she sleeps with Ralph and becomes pregnant with Dane. Angry with his work addiction, the pregnant Meghann leaves Luke and returns to her mother Fee in Drogheda.
- Fiona (fairy) Cleary
Fiona is the mother of Meghann and actually comes from one of the most powerful families in New Zealand. She gave birth to eight children, seven to her husband, Paddy. Her firstborn (Frank) came about through an unhappy love affair that she had as a young girl in New Zealand. Because of this, she was rejected by her family and married for money to the poor farm worker Paddy Cleary. Two of her sons died before the novel began. Over the course of the series, her sons Frank, Stuart, Hal and her husband Paddy die. She rejects her only daughter Meghann, but regrets this in old age and admonishes her not to do to Justine what she did to her.
Quote from Fee Cleary (part 4) "I will probably never know what we are allowed to decide for ourselves in life and what is already decided long before we are born."
- Luke O'Neill
Luke comes to Drogheda as a migrant worker and primarily takes a look at Mary and her fortune. He pretends to have fallen in love with Meggie and one day asks her to be his wife. Even if Meggie only loves Ralph inside her heart, she is open to his advances. The wedding takes place shortly after Meggie learns that Ralph cannot give up the church and is even becoming a bishop. He shows his true colors during Luke's marriage to Meggie. He leaves Meggie alone and is not interested in their daughter Justine. After Meggie, meanwhile secretly pregnant by Ralph, has made the decision to return to Drogheda, she leaves Luke.
- Justine O'Neill
Justine is Meggie's daughter and Dane's older sister. She suffers from not being loved by her mother and always losing out to Dane. Over the years she has acquired a rough shell that no one can break through. Except for Dane, nobody knows her emotions. Far from home, she plans a career as an actress. When Dane goes to Rome to become a priest, she meets Rainer: a man who fell in love with her at first sight and who has tried for years to look behind her facade. Only after a long wait does he finally succeed in gaining Justine's affection. When Dane dies at the same moment, Justine blames herself because she felt obliged to her brother. After Danes death, Fee and Rainer urge Meggie to reconcile with their daughter, to relieve her guilt feelings and thus to create a happy future for her.
- Dane Cleary O'Neill
Dane is Meggie's second child and her darling because he's the son she fathered with her great love Ralph. Apart from Meggie and Fee, nobody knows that Ralph is his father. When Dane grew up, his only desire was to become a priest. When he meets Ralph, his wish is reinforced because he sees him as a role model. Even if Meggie is not enthusiastic and threatens to despair about the loss of her son to the church, she agrees that Ralph takes Dane with him to Rome, where he begins a career under him.
When Dane is on vacation in Greece with his sister Justine, he drowns in the sea while trying to save two girls. It is only after his death that Ralph learns the truth about fatherhood.
background
- The film was not shot in Australia, but in California on the Big Sky Ranch northeast of Los Angeles and the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i .
- In 1995/1996, a two-part TV series was created in addition to this, which is only loosely based on McCullough's novel and, among other things, deals with the persecution of Jews during the Second World War, entitled The Thorn Birds - The Lost Years . Richard Chamberlain again took on the leading role; all other roles were filled.
First broadcast in Austria
- The ORF was the first German-speaking television broadcaster to receive TV rights and broadcast the series from November 26th to 29th, 1983. With an average of 3.6 million viewers, the thorn birds are the most successful series in the history of the station.
First broadcast in Germany
- The then new private broadcaster Sat.1 broadcast the four-parter from January 3, 1985. Since Sat.1 still had a limited range at that time, Die Dornenvögel only became one in Germany when it was broadcast on ARD from October 20, 1985 big success.
Awards
The Thorn Birds won the following awards, among others:
- In 1983, the multi-part Emmys won in the categories of Best Make-Up, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress. There were Emmy nominations in the categories of Best Music, Best Cinematography, Best Costume, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Lead Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress.
- In 1984 the miniseries got Golden Globe awards in the categories of best miniseries, best male lead, best male supporting role, best female supporting role. There were Golden Globe nominations in the categories of Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress.
- Also in 1984 director Daryl Duke was nominated for the DGA .
Reviews
“Staged with great external effort and a star line-up, but fake and fake. Sentimental conversation that misses out on reality. "
Web links
- The Thorn Birds in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ [1] at wunschliste.de, inserted April 15, 2017
- ↑ The Thorn Birds. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .