You shouldn't judge
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | You shouldn't judge |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1916 |
| length | 65 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Paul von Woringen |
| production | German mutoskop |
| occupation | |
| |
You shall not judge is a German silent film drama from 1916 by Paul von Woringen with Friedrich Feher in a double role and Eva Speyer in the female lead.
action
The Brazilian Felicita del Costa is a young orphan who is lovingly cared for by the elderly pastors Belt. Two men show interest in the young woman: on the one hand there is the neighboring landowner, a well-to-do but somewhat older man, and on the other hand the American plantation owner Antonio Pereira, who is visiting the Belts. Felicita takes a liking to the handsome, young man from overseas who reciprocates her feelings. He wants to give her a year to think it over, then, says Antonio, he wants to come back and, if she agrees, take her to his wife.
A year has passed and when Antonio Pereira returns to the pastor's house, he experiences terrible things. Terbet just took what he wanted and obviously raped Felicita. But despite this shame, Antonio stands by his word and asks for Felicita's hand. Pastor Belt performs the wedding ceremony for both of them in the open air. Before he immediately returns to his homeland with his wife, he briefly writes a few lines that the pastor should pass to the amoral monster Terbet. The letter says: “You and your tribe will perish by this act.” These lines are like a curse that has been announced.
Twenty years have passed and Felicita and Antonio were happily married. Nevertheless, Felicita could not forget the terrible memory of Terbet's act of violence and it ultimately perished. She leaves behind a saddened Antonio and a son named Miguel. At the grave of his beloved woman, Antonio swears to Miguel that he will one day avenge the deed done to her. A lot has changed in Felicita's old home as well. The old pastor is no longer alive and left his wife and their daughter Sophie behind. Max von Terbet has fallen in love with the young woman and asks his uncle to consent to the marriage. The bad old man, however, takes a stand and says no. Shortly afterwards, Miguel appears on the steps of the Terbetschen estate to finally demand an account of the grim old man. The next day the old landlord is dead.
Although a suicide is suspected, Terbet's servant reports that the day before he had heard voices from Terbet's office and that a stranger must have visited him. Thereupon Max von Terbet hires a private detective to get to the bottom of these things. Miguel, who still feels bound by the oath given to Felicitas grave, sneaks back to the Terbetschen estate at night and fires a shot in Max's room to fulfill his oath to bleed all Terbets for the once committed outrage . Max escapes the attack in the dark because at this point he was talking to the detective in his room on the estate. When both men rush back to Max's room, they find a bullet stuck in the back wall of Max's bed.
A few days later there is a festival in the house of the Brazilian consul. There Max learns that a long time ago Antonio married a Brazilian named Felicita and that they traveled to their husband's homeland. Max, who is eagerly looking for a reason for his uncle's mortal departure, finally finds Antonio's thoughtful curse of lines, which he once sent to old Terbet via Pastor Belt. Max suspects how much his uncle's guilt must have been and rushes to Miguel to beg his forgiveness. But Miguel reacts coolly and offers Max that they should atone for the outrage in an honest duel between the two, because only in this way can justice be done. Even Sophie's requests for the life of her lover fell on deaf ears with Miguel.
The wise widow Belt intervenes at the last moment, and for a brief moment Miguel believes that he sees her own mother again. She holds out her hands to him, and Miguel thinks he hears the words "You should not judge" from his mother's mouth. Miguel experiences a miraculous healing in a flash, and all his hatred and thirst for revenge is gone in the blink of an eye. When he returned home without having completed his oath, his father had died in the meantime. In the mountains where Antonio Pereira was buried, he stands at his grave, sinks down and begs “Father forgive!”.
Production notes
You shall not judge was made in the spring of 1916 in the Mutoskop studio in Berlin-Lankwitz , passed film censorship in June 1916 and was probably premiered a little later. The film was around 1200 meters long, divided into a prelude and three acts.
criticism
“A first-class, strongly dramatic picture, which rises far above the level of everyday life with its incomparably beautiful staging and brilliant presentation. (...) Fritz Fehér does his difficult job in an excellent way. "