The story of little Muck

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Movie
Original title The story of little Muck
The story of the little Muck Logo 001.svg
Country of production GDR
original language German
Publishing year 1953
length 100 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Wolfgang Staudte
script Peter Podehl
Wolfgang Staudte
production Willi Teichmann
music Ernst Roters
camera Robert Baberske
cut Ruth Schreiber
occupation

The story of little Muck (reference title: Der kleine Muck ) is a DEFA fairy tale film . It was made in 1953 in the GDR under the direction of Wolfgang Staudte and is considered the most successful production in DEFA film history. The plot is based on the fairy tale The Story of Little Muck by Wilhelm Hauff and tells of a little boy who, with magic slippers and a magic stick, is looking for the merchant who has the luck to sell.

action

The general plot of the film begins in a pottery workshop in an oriental city, where the aged, small and hunchbacked Muck works as a journeyman potter. The joyless Muck doesn't like to take to the streets, because he is always ridiculed by children, especially because of his appearance. On that day, however, he made his way to the Imam with two mugs. He is discovered by Mustafa and chased through the city by him together with other children. The children ridicule him as a "little bad man". Muck succeeds in luring the children who follow him into the now deserted pottery workshop. Muck locks himself in there with them and climbs onto a high shelf full of clay jugs. Mustafa climbs after him and destroys the lower compartments with the jugs. The children now want to flee in fright, but notice that the door is locked. They ask Muck for the key, but Muck only wants to let them go after they have listened to his own story, the story of the "bad man". He wants to keep talking until the clock in the workshop has run out.

The story of little Muck

In his childhood, the story begins, Muck once enjoyed playing with colored broken glass and doing barter deals as children do today. One day his father asked him what he would like to be when he grew up, and he replied that he was going to look for the merchant whom his mother, who had since passed away, had often told him about, the merchant who was lucky enough to be have to sell. But the father wanted Muck to learn something useful and took him to a schoolmaster he knew. There he was harassed by the other children because of his appearance and the schoolmaster did not want to take him to his school because of his hump and claimed that it was overcrowded.

His father was at a loss as a result, and he had again made the suggestion to look for the merchant whom his mother had often talked about. Although he initially tried to make himself useful somewhere in the city, he found nothing. When he returned three days later, he found his relatives at home, who had ransacked the house for money and valuables. A brother-in-law informed him that his father had suddenly died. Since he had no one left, he went away.

The search for the merchant who is lucky enough to sell

When he was so sad on the way, he met a city guard and asked about the merchant who offered the luck for a few broken glass. To cheer him up, the guard told him that the merchant passed here yesterday and showed him the direction. His path led him deep into the desert, where he came across a stray cat and shortly afterwards to a mysterious ruin in which an old witch lived with her many cats. She burned his shoes and walking stick so that he could not run away. Then he got the job of looking after the witch's cats.

Once when the old woman was out of the house, one of the cats knocked down a large jug. To his astonishment, he found a pair of shoes and a golden stick in the broken pieces. With that he then ran away. But the shoes were too big for him and when a slipper slipped off his foot again, he wanted to flip up the heel strap. He noticed that when the flap of one slipper was folded up and down, the flap of the other slipper had moved into the same position as if by magic. He also discovered a short verse engraved in his slipper: “Run away with me to a distant place. If your run ends, luck is your purchase. ”That seemed strange to him, and he couldn't do much with the saying either, but realized that if he flipped up the flaps, he could no longer lose his slippers. When he tried it out, he suddenly ran through the desert in no time, as if by himself. At first he had no idea what caused it and ran aimlessly through the area until he finally came to a town and caused chaos there and then got tangled in a fishing net. After he was freed by the fishermen, he discovered the secret of the slippers.

A little later, when he met Murad, the sultan's head runner, and had learned that only the fastest in the whole country could be a runner, he had an idea and went to the sultan's palace.

In the Sultan's palace

A replica of the scenery from the film in the Babelsberg Film Park

When he arrived at the Sultan's palace, thanks to his speed and small size, he managed to walk past the guards and thus triggered a bureaucratic state of alarm in the palace, with the guards walking past him several times without noticing him. He then met Princess Amarza in the garden of the palace. The latter wanted to bring him out of the palace again, and only then was he noticed as an intruder by the guards, who were of the opinion that he had wanted to kidnap the princess, whereupon he was arrested. He then told of his plan to become a runner and to race with Murad, the fastest man in the country. They were then allowed to compete against each other with mocking laughter. The sultan offered six gold pieces for the victor, but the court squeezed so much of it that in the end only one gold piece was left - another swipe at the bureaucracy. With the help of his magic shoes he was finally able to win the race despite a small mishap and was named the sultan's upper body runner. Since a second runner was not needed, the previous runner was dismissed from the sultan's service. It had become clear to him: "The happiness of one is the unhappiness of the other."

Prince Hassan and Princess Amarza, who have been promised each other, were drawn into a conflict that Hassan's father Wasil ibn Hussein, the sultan of the neighboring kingdom to the east, had conjured up when he wanted to declare war on the neighboring kingdom because the sun was supposed to be there open earlier. In fact, however, they are targeting the riches of the neighboring kingdom because their own court had financial problems due to favoritism. So they called him, little Muck, as the sultan's messenger, who was supposed to deliver the declaration of war. On the way he met the former Oberleibläufer, who told him about his terminally ill sister, to whom he wanted to deliver a medicine. Since Murad was full of doubts whether he would make it in time, medicine and a declaration of war were exchanged. He was able to deliver the medicine on time. Murad had also arrived in the village and reported on the content of the letter there. Since he then refused to deliver such a declaration of war, Murad tore up the letter.

Meanwhile, in the palace, Princess Amarza tried to influence the magician to prophesy a bad outcome to the war in order to prevent the Sultan from doing so. The magician was initially completely convinced that the stars were good for the sultan. When Amarza handed him her jewelry with the ironic words "Your fateful stones, wise magician!", He suddenly said: "That I could be so wrong ..." After the princess' plan worked, he was ordered back as soon as possible and honored him as the savior of the country, since he had failed to deliver the letter of war. He was then finally appointed treasurer by the Sultan. To the reluctant reaction of the previous incumbent that this office belongs in the hands of experienced advisors, the sultan replied: “Adviser! I just have too many advisors! I had to think of sending my magician out to find the treasure of the old kingdom! "

He himself then found out that his stick, which he had taken from the witch, reacts like a divining rod when it is near gold. In the park of the palace, in which the prophetic magician had tried unsuccessfully to find the treasure of the old kingdom with his powers, he then managed to do this very quickly with the help of his miracle stick, but tried to hide it. The court officials, who feared that their past fraud would be exposed, wanted to bribe him and pool their money. They were surprised when he bought the freedom of a slave for ten gold pieces, who pleaded with him for her release and to whom he had also handed a few more gold pieces. After the woman left, one of the officials stated: “We were bribed.” However, the amount of gold he owned puzzled the court officials, and they wondered where he got it from.

A trap was then set for him in that he was supposed to help Prince Bajazid out with gold. After he was followed, they found his hiding place. He was then called a cheater and locked in dungeon. His magic shoes had passed into the possession of the sultan, who immediately wanted to try them out. After he opened the hooks, he experienced the same thing as he did back then. He ran through the palace, screaming and helpless, and ordered him, Muck, to be fetched. The Sultan then promised him freedom and much more if he lifted the enchantment. He had succeeded in doing so, but the sultan fell in the process, which made everyone laughing. The sultan expelled him because of this humiliation. He then went off again without shoes and sticks. He had given up his search for the merchant who was lucky enough to sell.

The dog-ear prank

When he arrived exhausted at an oasis, he only wanted to die. He lay down under a fig tree from which a fig had fallen. After he ate the fruit, he immediately grew donkey ears: "Yes, yes, I really was a donkey, but I still miss a lot for a real donkey", he said and ate another fig from a tree opposite. To his amazement, the big ears then disappeared again. He had an idea. He sold a few of the magic figs to the sultan's buyers on the market square and learned that Princess Amarzas was now to be married to Prince Bajazid.

In the palace, the sultan distributed the few figs to the highest ranking and ate one himself. A short time later, everyone had long donkey ears, which led to loud laughter in the palace. Desperate attempts were made to remove the ears again. But even cutting them off was of no use, since they immediately grew back again. He then went to the palace as an old healer with Prince Hassan. There he first gave the magician a fig to eat, after which he was immediately healed. With the words "... for the Sultan" he handed over another fig, but not to the real Sultan. The latter absolutely wanted to be healed, but he pretended to have no more figs. The Sultan then took him into his treasury and allowed him to take whatever he wanted - and was then redeemed. He only refused to give the healing fig to Prince Bajazid. When he asked, he replied: "Well ... I don't like that at all ... There is a certain kind of prince who cannot be cured of this disease!" And promised him on the head that he was wrong, vain and be stupid. The prince then drew his sword, but Prince Hassan came to his aid in good time. Prince Bajazid tied himself in a large cloth in the ensuing battle, and nothing more stood in the way of Princess Amarza and Prince Hassan's happiness.

The End

This ends the story of the little Muck "who owned a magic stick and chased happiness with magic slippers without finding it", but also that of the old Muck, who sits on the shelf with clay jugs and tells it. In the meantime, Mustafa and the other children are very fascinated by his fairy tale and offer him presents as compensation. Cheering, they carry him up through the city and help deliver his jugs. When a guard is enjoying himself loudly, Mustafa immediately stands up for the new friend. Old Muck, however, just smiles and replies with a smile: “Oh, leave him. He sure doesn’t know the story of little Muck. ”The children continue to carry him and the film ends with this fade-out.

background

The fairy tale was first filmed in 1944 by Sonne-Filmproduktion Berlin (youth film distribution) under the title Der kleine Muck .

Wolfgang Staudte shot the entire film The Story of Little Muck from February 16, 1953 to July 31, 1953 on Agfa-Color in the Potsdam-Babelsberg DEFA studios for feature films. As a backdrop template served u. a. The Turkish bath , which Prince Albrecht of Prussia had built in memory of his trip to the Orient in 1843, is located in Dresden's Albrechtsberg Palace .

In the film, Thomas Schmidt plays little Muck shortly after his eleventh birthday.

The story of little Muck was the first DEFA film in 1953 in which a varifocal lens ("zoom") was used for some shots. This is easy to see in the scenes in the "cat house". The "Pentovar 2 / 30-120mm" used for this was developed in the same year at VEB Zeiss Ikon Dresden under the direction of Robert Geißler.

The GDR premiere was on December 23, 1953 in the Babylon cinema in Berlin. The West German premiere only took place two years later, on December 26, 1955, in Cologne under the title An Adventure from 1001 Nights . It was not until 1957 that the film ran in the general program of the German film theaters under the title The adventures of little Muck .

The film was first broadcast on television on January 29, 1954 in the DFF. Progress Film-Verleih took over the licenses and sales . The film was only released on video in 1998 and on DVD in 2002. The film has been available on Blu-ray since September 2011 . It is also available, together with eleven other films, in a limited edition Our most beautiful DEFA films from DVD-Palace.

With more than eleven million cinema-goers in 60 countries, the film is considered the most successful children's film - and also DEFA production in the GDR .

Originally, the production funds for the film adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's mother Courage and her children were planned under Wolfgang Staudte's direction. When this project did not materialize at first, Staudte filmed the story of little Muck as a filler.

occupation

The assignment of the actors to their roles is a bit more complicated than usual in this film. This is also due to the fact that characters are named in the opening credits that are not used in the film itself (e.g. Ahavzi, the woman with the cats in the desert). In addition, the cast list has some ambiguous role designations or names roles that are not identifiable in the film, and child actors are almost exclusively not mentioned.

Performers in the order of their appearances

Other actors

Awards and honors

Edinburgh International Film Festival 1956

  • Honorable recognition: Diploma of Merit

Montevideo International Film Festival 1956

  • Certificate

A ceremony of a special kind experienced actor Thomas Schmidt in 1956 by the "Central German VEB confectionery plant Delitzsch", which printed his portrait on a candy box packaging for Mocha sweets - one for GDR conditions, if known, one-time process. The box is now a sought-after item among collectors.

criticism

“Muck tells of a fantastic journey through the Orient. A timeless parable on the true meaning of friendship. "

- Goethe-Institut Jerusalem : The story of little Muck

“The popular children's film impresses with its imaginative décor and costumes as well as the outstanding performance, especially Thomas Schmidts in the role of young Muck. […] The story of a little man is told with great humanity. The film still enchants today with its beautiful colors and admirable effects. "

- German Film Institute : The story of little Muck

“The story of little Muck is a classic fairy tale film. Proof of the depth that fairy tale films can achieve. [...] Staudte succeeds in making both children and adults aware of the significance and meaning of fairy tales. The film impresses with the care in character development, camera use, dramaturgy and design. The fairy-tale decor and the impressive use of trick technology are still fascinating today, as are the color schemes and music. [...] Staudte succeeded in filming the fairy tale of psychological depth and socially critical irony. His staging leaves neither mythical nor philosophical levels out of consideration; it conveys values ​​without moralizing. The development of the main character is closely interwoven with the children's gain in knowledge in the framework action. This framework plot connects with the audience: like these children, he sits and listens to the experiences of 'little Muck'; like her, he understands the meaning of what is happening. "

- Rotraut Greune (online children's film) : Review: The story of little Muck

“In an oriental city, the hunchbacked old Muck, teased by the children, succeeds in convincing the audience through the narration of his adventurous life that the rather inconspicuous people also have something to offer. Hauff's less childishly naive, because more humanistically colored art fairy tales have lost none of their power, color, deep human wisdom and their effect to this day. [...] Staudte's film is a delightful oriental fairy tale fantasy, realized in the Brandenburg sand, whereby the exotic make-up faces give the whole thing additional charm. "

- Michael Boldhaus (Cinemusic.de) : DEFA fairy tales on DVD

"This film radiates deep human feeling and true goodness."

- Saxon daily newspaper

literature

The story of little Muck. In: Progress. Film illustrated, No. 44/53, Berlin 1953.

Web links

Commons : The Story of Little Muck  - Collection of Pictures

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The story of little Muck ( memento from December 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) at Deutscher Tonfilm Online
  2. ↑ a b Thomas Schmidt: I was the little Muck ( Memento of the original from November 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: SUPERillu ; Retrieved November 18, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.superillu.de
  3. ^ Peter Sbrzesny: Recordings with the Pentovar in film practice . In: Picture & Sound . No. 7 , 1956, pp. 180 .
  4. ↑ See DBGM No. 1.715.052 of September 11, 1953; DBGM No. 1,715,053 of September 16, 1953; and GDR patent no. 18.265 from October 6, 1956.
  5. ↑ Dr. Alfred Bauer: German feature film Almanach. Volume 2: 1946-1955 , p. 329
  6. ↑ The story of little Muck ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at Progress Film-Verleih  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.progress-film.de
  7. ↑ a b The story of little Muck - entry on filmportal.de
  8. ↑ The story of little Muck at Heftfilme.de