The Commissioner (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The commissioner |
| Original title | Комиссар / Komissar |
| Country of production | Soviet Union |
| original language | Russian |
| Publishing year | 1967/1987 |
| length | 110 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Alexander Askoldov |
| script | Alexander Askoldov |
| music | Alfred Schnittke |
| camera | Valery Ginsburg |
| cut | Natalja Loginowa, Swetlana Ljaschinskaja, Nina Wassiljewa |
| occupation | |
| |
Die Kommissarin ( Russian Комиссар , Komissar ) is a feature film from 1967 by Alexander Askoldow based on the story In the city of Berditschew (Russian В городе Бердичеве) by Vasily Grossman .
The film, which was banned by the Soviet film censorship immediately after its completion, was admired worldwide as a masterpiece after its international premiere at the Berlinale in 1988 .
action
Askoldov's film tells an episode from the Russian Civil War : Klawdia Vawilowa, a political commissar of the revolutionary Red Army , has to confess to the commander of her regiment that she is pregnant and that the birth is imminent. She is quartered in the recently occupied small town in the house of the Jewish tinker Jefim Magasanik and his large family and has to stay behind when her regiment retreats in front of the approaching enemy units.
The Magasaniks have retained a natural humanity despite oppressive poverty and under constant threat from the anti-Semitic pogroms of the civil war. The sympathy for their fate and the honest concern of the Jewish family for their well-being made the commissioner forget her role as a tough political officer for a short time; she gradually became a member of the family. The commissioner is losing her military appearance, is now wearing a dress, is unarmed, she shares a meager life with her involuntary hosts, little joys as well as civilians' fear of the ever present dangers of war. During the difficult birth, the detective, half unconscious from pain, suffers again in nightmarish, surrealistic scraps of memory, the brutal violence of the war and the death of her lover with his entire unit.
Shortly after the birth of their son, their regiment must finally withdraw from a superior force of the White Army ; Klawdia Wawilowa initially stayed with the Jewish family. As the roar of the cannons draws closer, everyone retreats into the cellar. Jefim succeeds in covering up the children's fear with a common dance - in the inspector's imagination, however, this dance turns into a horrific vision of the extermination of Ukrainian Jews in World War II : the Magasanik family marches along with a large group of Jews the yellow star on the coats in the "ghettos" of the National Socialists .
Early the next morning the inspector leaves the cellar without saying goodbye, breastfeeds her child one last time, leaves it in the house of the Jews and rejoins her regiment.
criticism
“In fascinating image compositions and metaphors, the film explores the conflict between inhuman management politics and inviolable human dignity. Based on the historical situation, a timeless plea for the moral power of a humane life emerges, as well as an impressive declaration of sympathy for the Jewish understanding of life and Jewish culture. "
particularities
The artistic focus of the film is not on a tense plot, but on the relationship between the Russian population and the parts of the population of Jewish faith and the inner change impressively portrayed by the actress Nonna Mordjukowa in the role of Commissioner Klawdia Wawilowa. The director Alexander Askoldow not only works with real images, but also interweaves dream sequences and fantasies, which open up a spiritual level to the film that earned him the Silver Bear in 1988 .
“The Commissioner” was initially not allowed to be shown in the Soviet Union . The world premiere could only take place at the time of perestroika on July 11, 1987 at the 15th Moscow International Film Festival . The film was first presented abroad in 1988 at the Berlinale, where it was awarded the Silver Bear (in the “Special Jury Prize” category).
literature
- Later triumph . In: Der Spiegel . No. 44 , 1988, pp. 289 ( online ). Quote: "Immediately after its completion, this extraordinary film was banned as 'anti-Soviet' in 1967."
Web links
- The Commissioner in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Following the success of the film, the story was also published in German: Wassilij Grossman, Die Kommissarin , Erzählung. Translated from the Russian by Thies Ziemke, with numerous photos from the film of the same name by Aleksandr Askoldov. Neuer Malik Verlag, Kiel 1989, ISBN 3-89029-044-2