The two lives of Mathias Pascal

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Movie
German title The two lives of Mathias Pascal
Original title Feu Mathias Pascal
Country of production France
original language French
Publishing year 1925
length 3,462 meters, 170 minutes
Rod
Director Marcel L'Herbier
script Marcel L'Herbier after Luigi Pirandello
production Cinégraphic and Films Albatros
music Joseph-Eugène Szyfer
camera Jimmy Berliet ,
Fédote Bourgasoff ,
Paul Guichard ,
René Guichard ,
Jean Letort ,
Nicholas Roudakoff
occupation

The two lives of Mathias Pascal (original title: Feu Mathias Pascal ) is a French film drama by Marcel L'Herbier from 1925, which he directed for his own company Cinégraphic in collaboration with Films Albatros . L'Herbier wrote the screenplay based on the 1904 novel Il fu Mattia Pascal by the Sicilian Nobel Prize for Literature Luigi Pirandello . The Russian actor Ivan Mosschuchin played the title role . Michel Simon made his film debut as Mathias Pascal's shy friend Pomino.

action

Mathias Pascal, the only son of a formerly wealthy middle-class family, lives impoverished in a small Italian town. There he made a proposal to the beautiful Romilde - for his friend Pomino, because he didn't dare. Romilde does not marry Pomino, however, but him, but his mother-in-law makes life difficult for him, which is not made easier by his job as assistant librarian at the city library. In addition, his wife is becoming more and more similar to her mother, so that soon only his own mother and little daughter will give him a little joy in life. But both are killed on the same day by an illness.

After this stroke of fate, Mathias flees headlong to Monte Carlo. There he is lucky and wins a larger sum in the casino. On the train home he reads in the newspaper that he was pronounced dead; his body had been found, he had taken his own life out of grief.

This message appears to him as a hint of fate. He makes the decision to assume another identity in order to start a second life. He travels to Rome and hires as 'Monsieur Adrien' in the pension of the beautiful Adrienne, whose father, surrounded by dubious people, holds spiritualistic meetings. However, behind the alleged esotericism hides a gang of criminals who have the old man in their hands. Their leader Térence is after Adrienne, although she has already fallen in love with 'Monsieur Adrien'. His 50,000 francs are promptly stolen from him, but he cannot go to the police because he no longer exists: he is dead!

Mathias has nothing left but to travel home again. But there he has to find out that his Romilde has remarried, now his friend Pomino, and that there is already a small child. He decides not to disturb their happiness and returns to Rome to see Adrienne and her father.

background

Filming began in December 1924; Outdoor shots were taken in Rome, San Gimignano and Monte Carlo . The interior scenes were filmed in the Montreuil and Epinay studios. The set was created by Erik Aaes , Alberto Cavalcanti and his assistant Lazare Meerson , whose first engagement was this film. Basile Kourotchkine was the production manager . Alberto Cavalcanti also acted as assistant director.

Since Ivan Mosschuchin was under contract with the "Films Albatros", L'Herbier had to come to an agreement with this company, so that it came to a co-production. For Michel Simon it was the first appearance in a film.

The original music for the film was written in 1925 by the Warsaw-born composer and conductor Joseph-Eugène Szyfer (1887–1947).

The film premiered in France in July 1925; However, it was not released until February 1926. Because of its length, it had to be shown in two parts, which L'Herbier found detrimental to the effect. Still, the film was well received by both audiences and critics. He grossed an estimated 1,219,026 francs. Two thirds of that came from outside France.

In the English-speaking world, the film was called The Late Matthew Pascal , or alternatively The Living Dead Man . It was premiered in America on March 6, 1927, in England on December 31, 1929. It was shown all over Europe in Germany, Denmark, Italy and Spain, Portugal, Greece and Poland. In addition to the United States, it has also been shown overseas in Brazil.

In Germany he received the title The Two Lives of Mathias Pascal .

reception

"Inspired by Pirandello, directed by L'Herbier, assisted by Cavalcanti, to whom we owe the decorations, interpreted by the great actor Mosjoukine, who is himself the author of several extraordinary films ... You don't know what to admire first." ( Henri Langlois )

Luigi Pirandello wrote in a letter to the director in 1925: “Today I express my enthusiasm for Marcel L'Herbier, whose talent and character I appreciate immensely. The cineast knows how to put something into the execution of the film that is not included in the novel, and yet to maintain maximum loyalty to the original. For the first time I have confidence in silent art. "

“Silent film classic about the fate of a freedom-loving man who ultimately longs for security and a home. The impressive film addresses longings and flight from the world in order to ultimately admit to small, realistic happiness. "( Filmdienst )

“Pirandello's 1904 novel has been the source of several films. In L'Herbier's 1925 silent version, the deliciously morbid fantasy of found freedom and lost identity becomes a witty and subtle comedy-drama, leaving the psychological interpretation to the realm of set design and cinematography. [...] The meticulous set designs of Alberto Cavalcanti and Lazare Meerson, combined with the studied framing and startling shadows of the cinematography, create a mood of dark illusion. " (Berkeley Art Museum 1986)

“The White Russian exile Ivan Mosjoukine was arguably the greatest male star of the silent screen. Imagine an actor who combined the matinee idol looks of John Barrymore with the smoldering sexual magnetism of Valentino, the deft physical comedy of Chaplin with the dark Gothic creepiness of Lon Chaney. It sounds impossible, of course - unless you've seen Mosjoukine in action. " (David Melville)

Further films

A sound film version of the Pirandello material was shot by Pierre Chenal in France in 1937 under the title L'homme de nulle part with Pierre Blanchar in the title role. Another sound film version, Le due vite di Mattia Pascal , was staged in 1985 by Mario Monicelli in Italy with international cast and Marcello Mastroianni as Mathias Pascal; the film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival that same year .

Restoration and re-performance

In 1990 the Cinémathèque Française restored the film to its original length and in the original virage.

The pianist Martial Solal , born in Algeria in 1927 , released a CD in 2008 on the Gorgone Products label entitled “Le cinéma muet 'Feu Mathias Pascal' (Musique du film de Marcel Lherbier 1925)”, which contains 16 compositions for the film.

The culture broadcaster Arte broadcast the film on Monday, December 27, 2010 at 00:05 on German television. The new music version comes from the composer Timothy Brock, born in 1963 . The Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna recorded it in 2009 under his direction.

The film was released in January 2012 by Flicker Alley LLC in digital form (Blu-ray, Full Screen, HiFi Sound, Silent, Subtitled). There is also a booklet with an essay by Richard Abel.

literature

  • Ian Aitken: European Film Theory and Cinema: A Critical Introduction. Edinburgh University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-7486-1168-1 , pp. 76, 270.
  • Jaque Catelain: Jaque Catelain présente Marcel L'Herbier. Vautrain, Paris 1950.
  • Marcel L'Herbier: La Tête qui tourne. Belfond, Paris 1979,
  • Marcel L'Herbier: L'art du cinéma. [ed. by] Laurent Véray. Association française de recherche sur l'histoire du cinéma, Paris 2007.
  • Georges Sadoul: History of Cinematic Art. With e. Afterword by Walter Schobert. (= Fischer Cinéma ). S. Fischer-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1982, ISBN 3-596-23677-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. senscritique.com
  2. ↑ on this film company cf. MoMa FILM EXHIBITIONS: Films Albatross. December 18-31, 2013
  3. ↑ cf. Jaque Catelain présente Marcel L'Herbier 1950, p. 86 and BAM / PFA: "Michel Simon makes his very funny film debut as Pascal's grotesque friend Pomino."
  4. ↑ Szyfer was born in Warsaw on April 1, 1887, died on 25 August 1947 in France. He was a composer and orchestra conductor and wrote the orchestral accompaniment music for silent and sound films, including for Koenigsmark (1923), Le requin (1929), La roche aux mouettes (1933) and others. a., cf. IMDb
  5. ↑ cf. en.wiki
  6. ↑ cf. Imdb / releaseinfo
  7. ↑ Quoted from film.at
  8. ↑ Quoted from film.at
  9. ↑ cf. filmdienst.de
  10. ↑ Quoted from BMA / PFA ( memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bampfa.berkeley.edu
  11. ↑ Quoted from dvdbeaver.com
  12. ↑ cf. IMDb
  13. ↑ cf. IMDb
  14. ↑ cf. Arnold on tcm.com
  15. ↑ cf. lastfm.de
  16. ↑ cf. arte.tv ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.arte.tv
  17. ↑ cf. Essay A new score for Marcel L'Herbier's Feu Mathias Pascal ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) at timothybrock.com
  18. ↑ "accompanied by a beautiful large orchestra score composed and conducted by Timothy Brock", cf. amazon.com