The Puppeteers (film)
The Puppeteers is a two-part German-Czech television film from 2017 . The film adaptation of the historical novel of the same name by Tanja Kinkel was shown on December 27 and 29, 2017 in the first TV program of ARD . Under the direction of Rainer Kaufmann , Samuel Schneider and Helen Woigk play the fictional characters Richard and Saviya, Herbert Knaup as Jakob Fugger and Ulrich Matthes as Pope Alexander VI. to see.
action
The film shows the alleged business conduct of Jakob Fugger at the end of the 15th century. In order to protect his Hungarian mines from the onslaught of the Turks, Jakob Fugger is said to have influenced the papal election in 1492 in his favor. At the same time, his protégé Richard opposes the witchcraft of the Dominican Heinrich Institoris .
Part 1 - From the fire
In 1484, the young convent student Richard had to watch his mother Zobeida being burned as a witch by the fanatic Heinrich Institoris after being charged and tortured . In the face of her death, Richard attacks Institoris with a knife and appears to stab him. The powerful Augsburg merchant Jakob Fugger takes the orphan Richard in with him and explains to him that the inquisitors responsible for the death of his mother are to be found in Rome in the vicinity of the currently sick Pope Innocent VIII. Since this Pope shows no interest in defending Hungary from the onslaught of the Ottoman Army, and on the other hand Jakob Fugger wants his numerous silver mines located there protected, he is working towards getting Cardinal Ascanio Sforza , who is his successor, to the chair of Peter. Jakob Fugger, Richard and their confidante Anton Eberding therefore travel to Italy to bribe the cardinals in the Fugger style. However, through a chain of tragic circumstances, Richard meets his old and still living enemy Institoris again, who is also on his way to the Vatican in order to get more power.
During the trip Richard met the young gypsy Saviya by chance, who impressed him with her sensuality, but whose superstition repelled him, so that they soon parted ways. Jakob Fugger, meanwhile, succeeds in gaining access to the circle of the mighty of Italy through the prelate Maffeo Gherardo, above all in contact with the unpredictable Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia. Fugger, Richard and Eberding are welcome as guests in the Medici Palace, where the intrigues meet: Borgia, his son Cesare, Ascanio Sforza and oppositional Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere - a friend of Abbot Torrani, who is also present, report to the Institoris and the Inquisition. Richard sees Saviya again at this ball of the mighty.
Part 2 - To the light
The Fuggers come to Rome via Florence to influence the upcoming papal election and to experience the power struggle between the Medicis and the Borgias. Richard's love for the mysterious fortune teller and dancer Saviya as well as his dispute with the witch hunters threaten to let Jakob Fugger's mission fail several times. The originally desired candidate cannot be put through, and Rodrigo Borgia mounts it as Pope Alexander VI in 1492 . finally the Holy See.
Richard's love for Saviya seems lost, however, as it becomes more and more entangled in the intricacies of power. As the fortune teller Alexander VI and lover of his son Cesare, she is out of reach for him. When Giuliano della Rovere wants to take revenge for the corrupted papal election, Saviya is kidnapped by Torrani and his henchman Heinrich Institoris and put to the stake. Richard seeks mercy from Alexander VI, but falls on deaf ears because of his fear of the mighty Della Rovere and acts on his own. Jakob Fugger tries to stop him from doing so, and Richard learns that Fugger is his birth father and his dead mother's lover. However, he does not let himself be stopped and instead asks Fugger where he was when his mother was burned. A fight ensues in which Saviya narrowly escapes death. Richard and Institoris meet at eye level for the first time. In the face of impending death from Richard's sword at his throat, Heinrich Institoris gives in. He and Torrani manage to escape, but several of his henchmen die at the blades of Eberding and Jakob Fugger. Anton Eberding is injured and succumbs to an abdominal wound. The grief brings Richard and Saviya together.
production
The Puppeteers is a production by Ziegler Film and Zieglerfilm-Munich in coproduction with Degeto Film , Bayerischer Rundfunk , Norddeutscher Rundfunk and MIA Film . The film was funded by the Czech State Fund for Cinematography, the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern and Nordmedia .
The film was shot in the Czech Republic , Bavaria and Italy from April to July 2015 .
publication
The world premiere took place on June 30, 2017 at the Munich Film Festival . When it was broadcast on the first on December 27, 2017, part one reached 5.33 million viewers and a market share of 16.9%, two days later part two fell to 4.55 million viewers and 14.8% market share.
reception
For Willi Winkler , a critic in the Süddeutsche Zeitung , Die Puppenspieler was a "sweet and sour medieval kitsch" that comes along as "tough and powerless". He criticized the historically flawed role of Jakob Fugger and its "disinterested" portrayal by Herbert Knaup. The dialogues are "congenial stupid".
The ARD two-part "Kitsch" was also for Oliver Junge in the Frankfurter Allgemeine . “Three hours of soap opera in front of a palace backdrop, at the end of which two lovers ride in slow motion into the sunset. Bare skin, cheap clichés (the seductive gypsy) and - united in the same figure - counterfactual self-determination kitsch. ”But he praised the“ furious cast ”and found that Rainer Kaufmann was showing a“ visually powerful direction ”.
Differences from the novel
- The book does not begin with Jakob Fugger's business deal with the Hungarian engineer Johann Thurzo (here in 1484).
- In the book, Jakob Fugger is married to Sibylle Artzt, who is Richard's aunt. Sibylle does not appear in the film, Jakob Fugger is single here.
- Richard never attacks Heinrich Institoris with a knife in the book.
- In the book, Brother Ludwig is executed by the Inquisition.
- The plot of the film makes Richard grow up much faster than intended in the book. Richard's stay in the Medici Florence around 1490, described in the book, does not appear in the film. Instead, a time-lapse occurs between 1484 and 1492.
- In the book, Richard and Heinrich Institoris do not meet in Innsbruck. There is no second encounter between Richard and Institoris in the book.
- Jakob Fugger does not travel to Italy in the book.
- The intrigues surrounding the election of Alexander VI as Pope are presented differently in the book than in the film.
- In the film, Richard is poisoned by Heinrich Institoris. In the book, he is poisoned by Vittorio de Pazzi. Pazzi does not appear in the film.
- The character of Battista Nardini does not exist in the book. In their place stands the monk Mario Volterra, who, unlike Nardini, is not an antagonist.
- In the novel, Richard and Mario Volterra write a book in which they condemn the witch trials. The book does not appear in the film.
- The cultural revolution under Girolamo Savonarola in Florence shown in the book does not appear in the film.
- The character of Anton Eberding is less significant in the book than in the film and is not described as humorous.
- Saviya is not kidnapped and tortured by Institoris in the book.
- The showdown in Rome with Richard's sword battle against the inquisitors does not exist in the book.
- The film makes Heinrich Institoris the main antagonist, in the book he is a supporting character.
- Jakob Fugger is not Richard's father in the book, but an uncle by marriage. The bond between him and Richard is stronger in the film than in the book.
- In the book, it is not Anton Eberding who dies at the end, but Mario Volterra.
- Cesare Borgia is not Richard's enemy in the book and never tries to kill Saviya.
- Richard announces in the film that he will travel to his mother's hometown. This is not mentioned in the book.
- In general, the book has a much more open ending than the film.
Web links
- The puppeteers at filmportal.de
- The puppeteers - ARD. In: daserste.de.
Individual evidence
- ↑ daserste.de: The Puppeteers: In front of and behind the camera . Retrieved January 1, 2018
- ↑ The Puppeteers. In: filmportal.de . German Film Institute , accessed December 31, 2017 .
- ↑ Good start for ARD Fugger film “Die Puppenspieler”, RTL II successful with “The Hobbit”. In: meedia.de. Meedia , December 28, 2017, accessed December 31, 2017 .
- ↑ RTL moderately successful with the new edition of the “Comedy Grand Prix”, “Die Puppenspieler” is losing viewers. In: meedia.de. Meedia , December 30, 2017, accessed December 31, 2017 .
- ↑ Willi Winkler: "The Puppeteers" is sweet and sour medieval kitsch. Article on sueddeutsche.de , accessed on January 1, 2018
- ↑ Oliver Junge: Power, Money and the Veil Dance. Article on faz.net , accessed January 1, 2018