The Witches of Eastwick (film)

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Movie
German title The Witches of Eastwick
Original title The Witches of Eastwick
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1987
length 113 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director George Miller
script Michael Cristofer
production Neil Canton
Peter Guber
Jon Peters
music John Williams
camera Vilmos Zsigmond
cut Hubert C. de la Bouillerie , Richard Francis-Bruce
occupation

The Witches of Eastwick (original title: The Witches of Eastwick ) is a horror comedy by director George Miller from 1987. The screenplay by Michael Cristofer is based on the novel The Witches of Eastwick (German book title: Die Hexen von Eastwick ) by John Updike .

action

Friends Alexandra Medford, Jane Spofford and Sukie Ridgemont, all around forty, are the suspiciously eyed outsiders who live without husbands in the small town of Eastwick, New England , populated by conservative citizens . Alex is a sculptor, music teacher Jane has just divorced, and Sukie and her many children write for the local newspaper.

Once a week they meet for a coffee chat and to exchange their longings. At one of these meetings they got a fabulous idea: Why not just invent a dream prince, a dream man who can satisfy the needs of all three? No sooner said than done: everyone contributes a few “ingredients” and a “mysterious stranger” is conjured up just for fun. What none of the three suspects: Together they have magical powers and can actually make things happen through their thoughts and words.

And so the mysterious "Daryl van Horne" enters the scene. Officially, the buyer of the old, mysterious Lennox villa poses as an art collector , but in reality he is none other than the devil himself.

And the forces that he uses to achieve his goals are also diabolical: He seduces each of the three women in a very special way in the way she prefers. Although the women are initially jealous of each other, the bond between the three turns out to be permanent, because with the help of Daryl they have now recognized their magical potential and are starting to enjoy their existence sensually at extravagant parties.

However, someone else has noticed that things are no longer right in Eastwick: Felicia, the wife of the editor-in-chief of the local newspaper Sukie works for. She is considered a godly parishioner and considers it her duty to draw the population's attention to "the evil". Therefore, she initiates an article in which she points out decadent orgies in the old mansion. The outraged inhabitants of the town react as expected and start to curse their friends as whores . So Felicia becomes a nuisance that should be eliminated, and Daryl with the help of his witches first causes an accident in which she breaks her leg, and later an incident in which she is killed.

Frightened by the extent of their power and full of sincere mourning for Felicia, the three decide not to meet again in the villa for the time being so that more damage is not done. Daryl, deprived of his playmates, is beside himself with anger. When he cannot get any of the friends to give in, he inflicts terrible suffering on Sukie, which takes her to the hospital. Slowly the three realize who they got involved with. Alex eventually takes on the task of appeasing Daryl. No sooner has Sukie recovered than they go to the villa one last time to destroy Daryl. With the help of a voodoo doll, which represents Daryl, they manage to get rid of him.

But the whole thing has consequences: after nine months, each of the three women gives birth to Daryl's child - and so “the devil in people” lives on.

background

The film was shot in Massachusetts (mainly on Castle Hill ) and California . It grossed approximately $ 63.77 million in US cinemas .

German version

The German dubbing was created in 1987 under the direction of Heinz Freitag , who also wrote the dialogue book.

role actor Voice actor
Daryl Van Horne Jack Nicholson Joachim Kerzel
Alexandra Medford Cher Joseline Gassen
Jane Spofford Susan Sarandon Monica Bielenstein
Sukie Ridgemont Michelle Pfeiffer Katja Nottke
Felicia Alden Veronica Cartwright Almut Eggert

Reviews

Roger Ebert praised the portrayal of Jack Nicholson and Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandon in the Chicago Sun-Times on June 12, 1987. In some scenes the effects are in the foreground, but the film is largely a plausible story about unbelievable characters, which the performers of the actors make up for.

The lexicon of the international film wrote that the comedy was initially “atmospheric and amusing” and “corrosively ironic”, but later was more devoted to “tasteless devil's ghost”.

Awards

The film was nominated twice for an Oscar in 1988 : For Best Film Music by John Williams and for Best Sound . He won the BAFTA Award in 1988 for special effects .

Jack Nicholson won the New York Film Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award in 1987 and the Saturn Award in 1988 . The film as Best Fantasy Film , Susan Sarandon, Veronica Cartwright, the screenplay by Michael Cristofer, the film music and the special effects were nominated for the Saturn Award. John Williams won the 1988 BMI Film Music Award and was nominated for a Grammy Award . The film was nominated for the Hugo Award in 1988 .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Filming locations for The Witches of Eastwick
  2. ^ Business Data for The Witches of Eastwick
  3. ↑ Thomas Bräutigam : Lexicon of film and television synchronization. More than 2000 films and series with their German voice actors etc. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-289-X , page 181.
  4. ^ Review by Roger Ebert
  5. ↑ The Witches of Eastwick. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 

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