The escape from the golden dungeon

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Movie
Original title The escape from the golden dungeon (Christian Wahnschaffe, 2nd part)
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1921
length 6 acts, 2050 meters, 75 minutes
Rod
Director Urban Gad
script Hans Behrendt ,
Bobby E. Lüthge
production Terra film
music Alexander Schirmann
camera Willy Hameister
occupation

also

Escape from the golden dungeon is the second part of the two-part silent film Christian Wahnschaffe , which Urban Gad made in Berlin in 1920/21 for Terra Film , which was founded in late 1919 . The title of the first part is Weltbrand  (1920). The script by Hans Behrendt and Bobby E. Lüthge was based on the second volume of the novel Christian Wahnschaffe by Jakob Wassermann , published by S. Fischer in 1919 . The title role was played by Conrad Veidt , his adversary, the brutal artist Niels Heinrich, was given by Werner Krauss .

action

In the second part, Christian Wahnschaffe has turned away from all earthly good fortunes and wants to mortify himself through poverty by living among the poor. But in the end he is badly disappointed. The goodness that he himself possesses and regards as essential to life cannot be found again in either the rich or the poor:

The bourgeois son, Christian Wahnschaffe, feels tired of life, even though or precisely because he lacks nothing in terms of material goods. When a friend leads him away from a party to a poor district, he is irritated, but at the same time feels drawn to this contrast to his previous life.

He brings Karen, a prostitute who is beaten up by her pimp, back to her mother, but she is a matchmaker. With her he made the acquaintance of young Ruth. She is known in the neighborhood as a benefactor and her role model radically changes his life. Now Christian only wants to live for her and charity.

After the terminally ill Karen dies, her pimp is now after Ruth. The pearl necklace that Christian once gave the prostitute, he now gives Ruth as a token of his pure love. But the pimp, rejected by Ruth, rapes and kills her out of greed and jealousy. When the angry crowd tries to catch him, he shoots himself.

background

The film structures were created by Robert A. Dietrich . Willy Hameister was responsible for the photography . The production company was Terra Film AG Berlin, whose sales organization also took over the initial distribution.

The film was presented to the test center on March 17, 1921 and was registered under test no. OB2521 prohibited for young people. Another test date on March 19, 1921 confirmed the youth ban under number B.01611.

The film premiered on March 30, 1921 in the Scala-Palast at Lutherstrasse 22/24 in Berlin-Charlottenburg. The music for the premiere was composed and conducted by Kapellmeister Alexander Schirmann . The cinema release was on April 1, 1921 in Berlin in the Motivhaus Hardenbergstrasse.

The film premiered in Denmark on November 14, 1921 under the title Ud af det gyldne Bur .

reception

The film was reviewed in Film-Kurier , No. 75 of March 31, 1921, in the Lichtbild-Bühne , No. 14 of April 2, 1921 and in Der Film , No. 14 of April 2, 1921.

literature

  • Rolf Aurich, Wolfgang Jacobsen (ed.): Hans Wollenberg, film journalist. Volume 16 of the book series Film & Schrift. Concept and editing: Rolf Aurich, Ulrich Döge and Wolfgang Jacobsen. Published in cooperation with the Deutsche Kinemathek - Museum for Film and Television. Edition Text + Critique, Munich 2013, 267 pages, ISBN 978-3-86916-210-2
  • Herbert Birett: Silent film music. Material collection. Deutsche Kinemathek Berlin 1970.
  • Daniela Eisenstein, Dirk Niefanger, Gunnar Och (Eds.): Jakob Wassermann. German, Jew, writer. Wallstein, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 3-8353-0158-6
  • Elisabeth Jütten: Discourses about justice in the work of Jakob Wassermann (= Volume 66 of Conditio Judaica). Verlag Walter de Gruyter, 2007. ISBN 3110937247 , length 333 pages.
  • Jakob Wassermann: Christian Wahnschaffe. Novel in two volumes. Zenodotus Collection. Zenodot Verlag, 2007. ISBN 3866401531 , length 588 pages.
  • Kay Less : "In life, more is taken from you than given ...". Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. ACABUS Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Deutsches Filminstitut : Censorship decision of March 17, 1921 and March 19, 1921. Available online at filmportal.de : Decision on censorship (PDF, 204 kB)
  2. ↑ a b cf. Critique in Film-Kurier , No. 75, March 31, 1921. Online at filmportal.de .
  3. ↑ cf. Critique in the Lichtbild-Bühne , No. 14, April 2, 1921. Available online at filmportal.de .
  4. ↑ cf. Review in Der Film , No. 14, April 2, 1921. Online at filmportal.de .