The player
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The player |
| Country of production | Germany , Austria |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2005 |
| length | 89 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Erhard Riedlsperger |
| script | Fred Breinersdorfer |
| production |
Bernd Burgemeister Doris J. Heinze Alexander Vedernjak |
| music | Karim Sebastian Elias |
| camera | Frank Bruhne |
| cut | Moune Barius |
| occupation | |
| |
The Gambler is a television film by the Austrian director Erhard Riedlsperger from 2005 based on motifs from the novel The Gambler by Fjodor Dostojewski and the script by Fred Breinersdorfer based on it . Hannelore Elsner plays the title role, Erwin Steinhauer and Nina Petri play leading roles.
It was first broadcast on June 17, 2005 on Arte TV .
action
The attractive and wealthy Polina Sieveking meets the lawyer Friedrich Mühlbichler in a Hamburg luxury hotel, who disappears without a trace after a first approach.
Polina, who fell in love with him, finally finds him in a shabby Hamburg hotel. He gives her money and asks her to play for him in the casino for exactly half an hour because she is a lucky child. Polina initially refuses because she has never been to a casino, but then lets herself be persuaded and actually wins with the number zero, which surprisingly comes twice in a row. Friedrich is overjoyed. On a second attempt in Travemünde, however, Polina loses all of the money again. Friedrich then confesses to her that he was wanted for the offense of embezzlement and that he needed the money to clear the suspicion that he was innocent.
A short time later, Polina was horrified to see how he was arrested. When she visits him in prison, he smuggles her a power of attorney that enables her to get the last of his money, which she should keep for him. She wants to help Friedrich and starts to gamble with her own money, plays the game systematically and loses more and more. Her addiction drives her to ruin, eventually ending up in a cheap room. In a last desperate attempt, she gambled away Friedrich's iron reserve. Friedrich's trial is now taking a positive turn: his employee is now suspected. Friedrich is released pending clarification by a witness from Switzerland. It takes some time before he finds Polina in her shabby dump. He immediately realizes that she has become addicted and blames himself for being the one who made her gamble.
He gets them to get banned from the casinos for half a year. But Polina cannot let go of her addiction and begins to play in an illegal casino, where she continues to run into debt. Friedrich finds them there and succumbs to the charm of the game himself. Together they win over 100,000 euros. Friedrich absolutely wants to continue playing, but Polina has the strength to stop.
The next day, Friedrich's employee is convicted in court by a witness, whereupon he is acquitted. In the meantime, Polina, gripped by her addiction again, loses the previous day's profit. Friedrich finds her completely disturbed in the attic of the casino, where she had obviously toyed with the idea of throwing herself down.
He gently comforts her and leads her out of the inhospitable building.
criticism
“It's the oppressive psychogram of a passion for gaming. Hannelore Elsner portrays the addictive, humiliated, desperate and self-deceiving player in a nuanced and credible manner without large gestures. Once again, she proves her great ability as a character actress. "
Web links
- The player in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The player at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ The player at dieterwunderlich.de