The company (novel)

The company (original title: The Firm ) is a novel by the American author John Grisham , which was first published in 1991 . In 1993 he was with Tom Cruise filmed . The only German translation to date comes from Christel Wiemken and was published in 1992 by Hoffmann and Campe , Hamburg. The book also developed into a bestseller in German-speaking countries - Hoffmann and Campe alone had published 27 editions by 1995. There are also 39 paperback editions from Heyne Verlag up to 2014.

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Mitch McDeere is a successful graduate of the law faculty of Harvard . Before he even took his final exams, he got an incredible job offer from the Bendini, Lambert & Locke (BLL) law firm in Memphis . McDeere, who comes from the poorest family backgrounds, believes in the goal of his desires: interesting work, a fabulous salary, fantastic social benefits. Mitch throws himself into work and takes the heavy workload calmly into account.

Mitch quickly realizes - a graduate in accounting - that the billed hourly rates, despite all the overtime, never justify the company's incredible salaries, welfare measures and social benefits ("the money seemed to grow on the trees"). But he suppresses this, works to the point of exhaustion and neglects his wife.

He soon realizes that there are secrets in the company. Two of his fellow lawyers are killed while staying in the firm's vacation rental, and the FBI tells him about incredible things going on at the firm. BLL belongs to a mafia family from Chicago: The core business is the administration of dirty money, the care of "real" clients brings in less, but serves as a money laundering facility. After a few years - when the young lawyers have got used to the good life - they gradually learn the truth; because now they can no longer get out; they know too much. The few who tried paid for it with their lives.

McDeere takes up the fight against the Mafia and the FBI to protect himself and the life of his family. The FBI wants to win McDeere as a key witness and tells him that they want to provide him with a new identity after obtaining incriminating documents. He will be given the free choice of working with the authorities or remaining loyal to the firm, but if the FBI can recruit another insider at a later date, McDeere will face conviction too.

Wayne Tarrance becomes the FBI contact for McDeere. Various meetings take place between the two. However, these do not go unnoticed in the company, so that McDeere is becoming increasingly suspicious. Nevertheless, with the help of his wife and one of his employees, he manages to collect incriminating material.

At the same time, however, the McDeeres doubts as to whether the FBI will be able to protect them in the long term, especially since there is a mole in their ranks. So it comes to the final showdown, in which McDeere, his wife and Tammy, the employee, flee from both the mafia and the FBI. Finally, as promised, McDeere leaves the files to the FBI, so that the members of the firm are convicted.

Adaptations

The novel was in 1993 by Sydney Pollack filmed . In addition to Tom Cruise in the lead role are Gene Hackman , Holly Hunter ( Oscar nomination) and Ed Harris to see. Except for the missing storylines and a different description of the relationship between Mitch and his wife and another happy ending , the filmmakers stuck to the novel. One part was filmed on Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman .

In 2012 a television series called The Firm was produced, which continues the motion picture. However, this was not continued after the first season.

There are also two German audio book adaptations of the novel in abridged version. The first was created in 1995 under the direction of Thomas Karallus with Michael Harck as the reader (Karussell-Musik-und-Video-GmbH, Hamburg, ISBN 3-933281-05-9 ). In the second, Charles Brauer reads the novel under the direction of Margrit Osterwold (Heyne, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-453-19858-1 or ISBN 3-453-19859-X ).

Remarks

In the original English text there are various significant word games. For example, the law firm is based on Front Street. The English word “front” can be translated as “facade” or “straw man” - the law firm is a facade for the mafia family.