The last days of Byzantium
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The last days of Byzantium |
| Original title | L'agonie de Byzance |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 1913 |
| length | 29 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Louis Feuillade |
| script | Louis Feuillade |
| production | Gaumont |
| music | Léon Moreau |
| occupation | |
| |
The Last Days of Byzantium is a short French monumental silent film from 1913 by Louis Feuillade .
action
It is written in the year 1453 , the place of action is the southeastern outpost of Christianity Constantinople . The Byzantine Empire Emperor Constantine XI. is first threatened by the infidels of Sultan Mehmed II and his overwhelming host, then besieged and finally conquered in a costly battle. First you can see Constantine inspecting the fortifications, which are supposed to be secured by a huge cannon from the hand of the Hungarian weapons designer Orban. In the meantime, the Sultan has withdrawn with his war advisors to put the finishing touches to his plans for attack. The Christian defenders ask for divine assistance, the population is desperate.
Finally, there is a Muslim attack, thousands of Ottoman attackers storm the fortress of Constantinople and overrun their defenders. The last Byzantine emperor also fell during the battle, and the first looting by the Muslim conquerors took place. Only then does Mehmed enter the city and inspect the prisoners and the dead, looking for the corpse of his opponent Constantine. When he finds him, he ravages and beheads him in a final act of barbarism. The great victory is celebrated in Hagia Sophia .
Production notes
The last days of Byzantium , despite its short duration, a monumental reacted History substance of some spectacle splendor and with the Roman antiquity as Handlungsort as at that time the French and especially the Italian film ( Quo Vadis? , Spartacus , Cabiria prepared preferred) .
The first known performance date was September 19, 1913 in Berlin's UT-Lichtspiele on Friedrichstrasse. In France, the country of manufacture, The Last Days of Byzantium did not start until October 24, 1913.
The film structures were designed by Robert-Jules Garnier .
Historical background
The conquest of Constantinople (1453) by the Ottomans ended the Christian-Roman rule over today's Istanbul and thus also the Byzantine Empire , which had lasted for more than a millennium . The Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II was at the head of a siege army of around 80,000 men. His opponent was Emperor Constantine XI, who had around 7,000 to 10,000 soldiers as defenders. The fall of the city also marked the rise of the Ottoman Empire to a great power.
criticism
“' The last days of Byzantium '… takes us to the middle of the 15th century and shows us in a series of wonderful pictures how Mohammed II went to the field against Constantine and won Constantinople to Islam. The cinema proves its astonishing efficiency in the recording of stormy, bustling crowd scenes. It follows the crowd from place to place; it is not tied to any location and can change scene from minute to minute. Mighty elevators develop; we see the desperate people of Byzantium; Battle images unfold before our eyes; the immense warband of Mohammed overthrew the small army of Constantine. The king falls; His own are dragged from there and taken into captivity. It is an exhibition that evokes strong impressions and shows the work of a brilliant director. "