Boris Grushenko's last night
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Boris Grushenko's last night |
| Original title | Love and Death |
| Country of production | F , USA |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1975 |
| length | 81 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Woody Allen |
| script | Woody Allen |
| production | Charles H. Joffe |
| music | Sergej Prokofjew , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
| camera | Ghislain Cloquet |
| cut |
George Hively Ron Kalish Ralph Rosenblum |
| occupation | |
| |
The Last Night of Boris Grushenko is an American film from 1975. The director , writer and lead actor of the comedy is Woody Allen . In this satire he plays a clumsy coward who by chance becomes a war hero and later fails in an attempt to murder Napoléon Bonaparte .
action
Boris Gruschenko grew up in a Russian village near Saint Petersburg at the end of the 18th century . While his two brothers grow up to be stately men, he develops into a slight aesthetic who philosophizes with his attractive cousin Sonja about God and death. When Napoleon's troops begin to overrun Europe, he is forced to go to war under pressure from his family. Because he gets lost on the battlefield, an absurd coincidence turns him into a war hero.
When he returned to Saint Petersburg, he was involved in a trade of honor . After he unexpectedly survived the duel, his now widowed cousin Sonja has to redeem a carelessly given marriage promise and marry him. A few months of mixed, poverty-stricken marriage followed, filled with philosophical debates. When the couple finally come to terms with each other and want to have children, the French army invades Russia. Boris wants to flee, but is persuaded by the egocentric Sonja to assassinate Napoleon instead.
Disguised as emissaries of the Spanish crown, they travel to Moscow , but only meet one of Napoleon's double. The assassination failed under ludicrous circumstances. While Sonja manages to escape, Boris ends up in prison and waits for his execution. An angel appears to him in the cell and prophesies a last minute pardon. However, there is no pardon and Boris is executed.
background
- The film, shot in Budapest and Paris, was the last film up until 1996 that was shot outside of Allen's favorite New York setting or the surrounding area. First say for everyone: I love you , the director turned his back on his hometown again.
- The film was originally supposed to be accompanied by music by Igor Stravinsky . Since this seemed too gloomy to everyone, the cheerful music by Sergei Prokofiev or in a scene in the opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was used.
Reviews
- Lexicon of international film : “ Sarcastic Woody Allen comedy that parodies everythingfrom militarism to sex to religion. At times bubbling with ideas and satirical jokes. "
- The daily newspaper : “In between, the plot may sag, but there are punch lines around the big topic of 'Love and Death' (the original title) that, as a normal, sensible person, you should slide between the cinema chairs with laughter. "
- Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times also saw a successful comedy . It awards 3.5 out of 4 stars. The film is planned far more carefully than the Allen film Bananas, shot in the 'everything goes' style . Ebert is enthusiastic about the acting performances of Woody Allen and Diane Keaton.
- Die Zeit , 1975: “Allen's talent for verbal nonsense , which always leads to grotesquely exaggeratedpseudo-philosophicalspeculations, is combined here with surrealistic visions: sausage sellers offer their wares on the battlefield, a dead warrior is worried about a business transaction, Russia's village idiot gather for a congress ('Welcome Idiots'), Napoleon wrestles with his doppelganger. The militant pacifist Woody Allenintelligently dismantlesthe sublime pathos of Hollywood's historical epics. "
Awards
Woody Allen won the UNICRIT Award at the 1975 Berlin International Film Festival and was nominated for the Golden Bear . He also received a Silver Bear at this Berlinale for his complete work.
DVD release
- Boris Grushenko's last night . MGM Home Entertainment 2007
Web links
- Love and Death in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Love and Death at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Trivia for Love and Death
- ↑ The Last Night of Boris Grushenko. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Brief summary in: taz , April 19, 2006
- ↑ Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times
- ↑ Film tips . In: Die Zeit , No. 38/1975