The story of poor Hassan
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The story of poor Hassan |
| Country of production | GDR |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1958 |
| length | 60 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 0 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Gerhard Klein |
| script | Rosel Klein |
| production | DEFA |
| music | Hans-Dieter Hosalla |
| camera | Götz Neumann |
| cut | Evelyn Carow |
| occupation | |
| |
The story of poor Hassan is a DEFA fairy tale film by Gerhard Klein from 1958. It is based on motifs from a Uighur fairy tale.
action
A stone desert in Asia . In front of the property of the rich merchant Machmud, who sells water from his well to traders, poor Hassan lives in his hut. Once again he has no money for water; his property consists of a bowl of water and a talking parrot. One day when the parrot flies into Machmud's estate and sits there by the well, Hassan goes to Machmud's entrance gate and tries to get the bird back. Machmud sets his dog on Hassan. When the dog tries to kill the parrot, Hassad tries to drive it away with a stone throw. The dog is hit by the stone and dies. Before the corrupt Kadi , Machmud enforces that Hassan now has to serve him as a dog.
Hassan is kept on a chain as a dog in the courtyard of the Machmudsche estate. Machmud's slave Fatima tries to persuade Hassan to flee, but he refuses, since the judgment of the Kadi is always an expression of the will of Allah . When thieves break into Machmud's property one night and steal a horse, Hassan tries to stop them, but his chain prevents him from acting. He starts barking, but Machmud doesn't respond. When he notices the theft, he again indicts Hassan in front of the Kadi, because he had made it possible for the horse to be stolen by doing nothing. Since the Qadi was promised the long-sought-after Fatima, he pronounced the verdict that Hassan Machmud should now replace the stolen horse.
Hassan first has to keep the wheel of the fountain going like a horse and - when he stands against the Qadi and Machmud, who are still fighting over the price of Fatima during the prayer - is harnessed to the carriage to drive both men into the desert. He plans to break free and collapses in the desert. While a dispute between the two men over the last water rations begins, Hassan gathers his last strength, frees himself from the harness and steers the car against a rock. He suggests to both men that there is a lion behind the rock that they could both drive away by barking, and both men begin to bark. Hassan returns to Machmud's estate, the gates of which he opens. Finally he gets to the well and drinks. Fatima begins to sing a song in which it is said that only the unencumbered person can enjoy the beauties of the world.
production
The story of poor Hassan was shot in the studio and premiered on July 19, 1958. Another distribution title for the film was Hassan and the Wealthy Merchant Machmud .
The film begins in a black and white shot in which the main actor Ekkehard Schall , already wearing a mask, introduces himself to the audience as an actor and names the other actors in the film. The credits written in a book appear by turning the pages. He closes the book and begins to introduce the plot. Only now does the film fade into the color setting and the actual plot begins. In contrast to the underlying fairy tale, this appears “all fantastic flourishes [removed]” and is based on “ Brecht's didactic piece theory ”: “'Don't stare so romantic!', Brecht called out to the educated citizens in the theater. This is also the impression given by the unusual and probably unique experiment in DEFA history. "
criticism
Contemporary critics wrote that “this symbolically encoded fairy tale parable [...] contains many teachings, which are made particularly clear by the alienated figure in which they are dressed. […] Such a parable is unlikely to be accessible to children, and the official premiere in the presence of numerous children also showed that they adhered exclusively to external events. It can therefore in no way be recommended to show this film in children's screenings. ”Other critics saw the story of poor Hassan as a film that was“ suitable for large and small ”viewers, although it was recommended for children aged ten and over,“ when parents and teachers open their understanding of the truth that is being said here. "
Other critics asked the question “whether one can easily transfer Brecht's dramaturgy onto the screen”, since the effectiveness of the film, in contrast to the theater, is based primarily “on the suggestion of an immediate experience”. The film tries to “keep the audience at a distance”. Overall, however, the film is "a challenging little work of art, an interesting attempt on the way to the fairy tale film of our time."
literature
- F.-B. Habel : The great lexicon of DEFA feature films . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-349-7 , pp. 203-204 .
- The story of poor Hassan . In: Ingelore König, Dieter Wiedemann, Lothar Wolf (eds.): Between Marx and Muck. DEFA films for children . Henschel, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-89487-234-9 , pp. 110-112.
Web links
- The story of the poor Hassan in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The story of poor Hassan at filmportal.de
- The story of poor Hassan at the DEFA Foundation