The hour that you are happy

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Movie
Original title The hour that you are happy
Country of production Federal Republic of Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1961
length 106 minutes
Age rating FSK 18
Rod
Director Rudolf Jugert
script Herbert Reinecker
production Utz Utermann
music Franz Grothe
camera Kurt Hasse
cut Margot von Schlieffen
occupation

The Hour You're Happy is a German film drama from 1961 directed by Rudolf Jugert . In addition to Ruth Leuwerik, the main roles are occupied by Peter van Eyck , Werner Hinz and Anaid Iplicjian .

action

The lawyer Dr. Vera Berg runs her own prosperous law firm and is not so easily impressed by men. When the rich entrepreneur Bönisch courted her, she was at first very astonished at the tenacity with which he courted her. Bönisch is not only extremely successful in his job, but also with women and has had constantly changing girlfriends. But what matters more, he is married. Since their first meeting, the charming man has not let up to get closer to Vera. After repeatedly unsuccessful attempts, he visits Vera one evening in her home to persuade her to go to the theater. Since he seems to have a cold, Vera takes care of him and an informative conversation develops between the two of them. When, however, two nurses turn up because Vera had informed the health service, Bönisch doesn't think that's funny at all, Vera even more. Bönisch's next step is to make Vera an offer to join the legal department of his company as a lawyer. Vera also implies ulterior motives here. To her surprise, he invites her to his home to discuss the matter further. Bönisch's wife welcomes Vera and the coldness of her nature reveals itself to the lawyer immediately.

On Vera's birthday, Bönisch again stands in front of her door with a large bouquet of roses and champagne. He also thought of appetizers and they eat and drink together. Vera quickly flips over and is no longer so sure whether she really wants Bönisch to go, which he then does to her astonishment. When she opens her front door, he is still standing in front of it and she pulls him back into her apartment, where there is a first kiss. Although Vera initially defends herself against her feelings, she succumbs to them, and they and Bönisch become a couple. Vera doesn't make it easy for herself, she wonders whether her love for Bönisch gives her the right to disregard conventions and separates from him. Since she remains inaccessible to him in the following years, he sends her a diamond ring, knowing full well that Vera perceives this as bad taste, as he had always ended his love affairs in this way in the past. And Bönisch is right, Vera drives to his company immediately and throws him the ring indignantly. When Bönisch assures her that it was only his intention for her to come to him and he knew that she would come, they both embrace. Bönisch invites Vera to his house in Portofino , where they want to go on vacation together. As they arrive separately, when Vera's arrival Bönisch is in the hospital for an examination with Prof. Sandrini, as she learns from the housekeeper Edith. There is talk of severe anemia . For Vera, the carefree hours end the moment she visits Sandrini and learns from him that Bönisch suffers from acute leukemia , a disease that cannot be cured and leads to death. Vera is stunned and stunned, then she also has to find out that Bönisch will probably only be staying a few weeks. Together with the doctor, she agrees that Bönisch must not find out anything about his real condition. It is not easy for Vera to keep her deep disturbance a secret from her beloved man. When he proposes to her, she can't hold back tears.

Since Vera is aware of her responsibility, she dedicates a nightly phone call to Dr. Maurer, Bönisch's legal advisor. She is also trying desperately to find capacities that can still cope with the deadly disease. Shortly afterwards, Maurer arrives, who has to pretend to Bönisch that he doesn't know anything about his condition. When Vera speaks to him alone, she says: “If I expect something from you, it is that you help, help him!” Shortly afterwards, Bönisch informs Maurer that he intends to get a divorce in order to marry Vera , and that he expects help from him in this regard. After Maurer spoke to Prof. Sandrini, he and Vera have different opinions about what should happen next. Vera wants everything to happen that Bönisch wants and makes him happy, Maurer, on the other hand, has completely different priorities. Above all, he is of the opinion that one shouldn't hide her husband's fatal illness from Ms. Bönisch. He also wants Maurer to come back and stresses that it is his duty to do what is right. Vera means to him that he is already doing the wrong thing. When Maurer says goodbye, Bönisch points out to him once again that he expects him to deal with the divorce immediately.

Back in Germany, Maurer did not remain idle and prompted Bönisch to return to Munich. Since the entrepreneur is getting worse from day to day, he agrees that the best doctors have been gathered there. Vera has to be told by Bönisch's wife that she is only interested in his money and reputation and that she forbids her to visit her husband again. Even in the hour of his death, she is denied entry to the beloved man's sickroom. When she returned to her practice, she received a bouquet of roses from Bönisch as a final greeting.

Production notes and background

The shooting lasted from June 19 to August 1961. The outdoor shots were made in Camogli in the Italian province of Genoa , the other shots in the Bavaria Film Ateliers Geiselgasteig. The film constructions came from Hans Berthel and Johannes Ott . The production company was Bavaria Filmkunst GmbH in Munich-Geiselgasteig.

The film was approved in the FSK test on September 14, 1961 under the number 26186 from the age of 18, on January 25, 1984 the 4th FSK test took place under the same number. The hour you're happy came to German cinemas on September 29, 1961 with a mass start.

In the ideal wife Ruth Leuwerik and the cinema of the fifties it means to her role in this film: "So typical of the time and clichéd the plot is created, it breaks the end of the film with a role stereotype, when Vera against all moral authorities and prejudices decides to stay by the married man's side until his death. In doing so, she accepts being branded as a calculating lover. ”It is also stated that Ruth Leuwerik in her role, as so often, opposes the man's logical thinking and wants the best for the man she loves, bricklayer but think of his duty. Vera to Maurer: “You are a man and whatever you think you think like a man. Don't you see that he's happy! ”In her role, Ruth Leuwerik is the mediator between reason and feeling. Thanks to her theatrical persuasiveness, she unfolds the idea of ​​“not behaving in conformity, but rather to rebel against the mendacious bourgeois morality, even if it fails because of it”.

criticism

The lexicon of the international film spoke of "maudlin phrases" and summarized its judgment in the word "Edelschnulze".

The Hamburger Abendblatt criticized the film at the time by asking whether German film authors ("Have a happy couple of hours? Go to the cinema!") Could think of nothing else to sadden the audience to their hearts' content and answered the question asked Immediately with: “Obviously not!” In particular, it was criticized how the film “after an expert explanation by the attending physician spreads out the individual phases of dying from leukemia with relish, that [was] of such sentimental tactlessness that a better representation, even more a better camera couldn't have made the subject more bearable ”.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The hour that you are happy at filmportal.de
  2. ^ The ideal woman Ruth Leuwerik and the cinema of the fifties , ed .: Peter Mänz and Nils Warnecke, Henschel Verlag, 2004, p. 40, ISBN 3-89487-482-1
  3. ↑ The hour that you are happy two thousand and one.de
  4. ↑ hen .: The hour that you are happy In: Hamburger Abendblatt, October 7, 1961. Retrieved on July 3, 2015.