Effi Briest (1970)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Effi Briest |
| Country of production | GDR |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1970 |
| length | 120 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Wolfgang Luderer |
| script | Wolfgang Luderer |
| production | DEFA on behalf of the German TV broadcaster |
| music | Hans-Hendrik Wehding |
| camera |
Günter Marczinkowsky Hans Heinrich |
| cut | Use Peters |
| occupation | |
| |
Effi Briest is a television film by Wolfgang Luderer from 1970 based on the novel of the same name by Theodor Fontane . It was produced by DEFA for German television broadcasting .
action
The 17-year-old Effi Briest, who is having fun in the garden with her friends, is brought into the house by her mother, because Baron Geert von Innstetten has arrived. In the hallway, the mother reveals to her daughter that the baron has just asked for Effi's hand. When asked by a friend whether he is the right person, Effi replies that everyone is the right person if they are nobility , have a job and are handsome. The wedding is celebrated quickly and Effi then moves to Kessin in Western Pomerania to live with Geert, who is employed there as a district administrator. But immediately after her arrival and the introduction of the staff, she gets a shock when she enters the house. A stuffed crocodile and a shark hang from the ceiling of the entrance hall . There are other exotic figures standing around that still come from the previous owner of the house, the so-called China driver Captain Thomsen, who lived here with his Chinese servant after the sale of his ship . In a first cup of tea in the new home, told her Geert that in Kessin society is not much going on, because of notables there among the 3000 inhabitants only the preacher , a magistrate , the Rector and the harbor pilot . In the end, only the pharmacist Gießhübler and a handful of noblemen remain in the area to meet with.
The next morning Effi sleeps a little longer while Geert is already working in the district administration . But the housekeeper Johanna tells her that her husband wants to come home for breakfast in the new home. She also explains to Effi which noises bothered her during the night. They came out of a hall above their room, where the curtains drag across the floor with the windows open. Of course, Effi has to take a look into the room used as a storage room and is shocked by a picture of a Chinese there. During breakfast together, Geert promises her that he will have the noisy curtains cut. The pharmacist Gießhübler arrives at 11 a.m. sharp to make his inaugural visit to the young baroness. She uses the opportunity to ask whether you can go dancing in Kessin and Gießhübler replies that there is an annual New Year's Eve ball and the usual carnival celebrations. After saying goodbye to the pharmacist, Effi sits down on a bench in the entrance hall, is frightened again because of the terrifying figures, closes her eyes and dreams of playing with her friends in her parents' house. Only when Geert returns home does she return to the present. He surprises her with an inaugural visit to the Grasenabbs in the afternoon, but also warns that she shouldn't expect too much, because such mandatory visits are also exhausting. Effi is bored with this and the following visits to the other nobles in the coming weeks, because the conversations are always the same and the men then often withdraw to a gentlemen's round.
One evening Geert explains to his wife that she will be alone more often now because his work is piling up, also because Prince Bismarck , who has known him for a long time, is nearby. But Effi is afraid of being alone in the house and asks Geert to move into another house, which he refuses on principle. But a little distraction comes into the daily miscellaneous, because she received the invitation to a musical soirée from Gießhübler. Here she meets the guest of honor, the singer Marietta Tripelli from Paris , who is on her way to Saint Petersburg . But there is a second guest of honor, an old acquaintance of the Baron von Innstetten, Major von Crampas with his wife, who has come to Kessin on business. On the way home, Effi answered Geert's question how she found him with the expression lady's man , which he immediately confirmed.
During a walk with the house dog Rollo through the cemetery, Effi meets the young woman Roswitha, who is attending the funeral of her previous rule. Since she is now out of work, the pregnant Effi hires her as a nanny for her expected baby. After the birth of a girl whom they call Annie, she goes to her parents with Roswitha for several weeks. Father Briest is just surprised that von Innstetten leaves her alone for so long and does not even visit her. After their return to Kessin one day Major von Crampas comes to visit during breakfast and they decide to go out of the conversation and ride out together. The horse still needed for Effi wants to get from Crampas. The first ride gives Effi so much pleasure that several more are to follow, but they are accompanied by Innstetten's coachman, since the baron has other official duties to fulfill.
In one afternoon Gießhübler brought several papers with information from all over the world for the Baroness into the house so that at least she would learn something new from the newspapers when nothing was going on in Kessin. Here he puts forward an idea to Crampas, who wants to put on a play in the run-up to Christmas. Baron Innstetten finds this proposal capital, also that his wife should take on the leading role. The performance is a great success and Geert finds Effi delightful, as he confirms to her before the subsequent premiere party . Just a week later, the city's dignitaries are on their way back from a party in the forest ranger's office with their horse-drawn sleighs . Suddenly the company doesn't get any further, because the sledge with Effi broke into a water hole, while Geert got through in the sledge in front without any problems. The occupants of the remaining sledges decide to find another route. The female companion Effis switches to a sleigh, which she thinks is safer, while the major joins Effi. Since they can no longer be seen by the other companions, Crampas dares to kiss them intensely on the mouth. The next morning Effi is sick in bed and the doctor who has been summoned prescribes plenty of fresh air by the water. On her return from one of these walks on the Baltic Sea, Roswitha hands her a letter from Major Crampas, which she reads, crumples up and then smooths out again, so that she can continue reading and keep it in one of her small cupboards.
The district administrator travels to Berlin for eight days on business and leaves Effi alone in Kessin. From now on, Crampas walks with her hand in hand through the dunes and on the beach. On his return, Geert surprises his wife with the news that they will be moving to Berlin because he has been offered a position as Ministerial Counselor there, which she is very happy about. Before leaving, she said goodbye to the pharmacist Gießhübler, who was her best friend in Kessin. She does not say goodbye to Major von Crampas, who also appeared. Her new life in Berlin begins, where she quickly forgets the boring Kessin and her relationship with the major. After four years in Berlin, during a reception with her husband's employer, the minister's wife revealed , still under the seal of secrecy, that the empress wanted to add her to the group of ladies of honor on the occasion of the establishment of the Sophie Charlotte Foundation .
Effi has now been living in Berlin with her husband for six years and is currently on a spa trip when Annie injures her head and the staff is urgently looking for a bandage in the apartment. They also open the little cupboard in which Effi still keeps the major's old letters. Innstetten sees the furniture that is still open, wants to close it properly and accidentally discovers the letters. Of course, he recognizes the sender and reads it in order to then talk to his friend Wüllersdorf about it. He explains to him that he still loves his wife, but since he now has a confidante in him, he must draw his conclusions. Although Wüllersdorf assures him that he will keep the matter to himself, Innstetten, guided by outdated terms of honor, challenges his former rival to a duel and hits him fatally. During the cure, Effi learns of the event and also that Innstetten wants to divorce her. Even her parents are now forbidding her from entering her house, although Father Briest does not fully agree with this decision. Effi has no choice but to rent a small apartment in Berlin, where she lives with Roswitha as housekeeper, without her daughter, of course. After not seeing these two years, she goes to her patroness, the minister's wife, and asks her to help her see Annie again. Although it is difficult, the Minister's wife manages to arrange a meeting that is very disappointing for Effi, since Annie is now completely estranged from her, in which her father plays a major role. Immediately after this meeting, Effi collapses and the family doctor recommends that her parents take her back with them, which also happens due to Father Briest's energetic behavior towards his wife. After a short, pleasant time in her parents' house, Effi dies at the age of just 30.
production
Christian Collin wrote the scenario and Albrecht Börner was responsible for the dramaturgy .
The first broadcast of the film produced on ORWO-Color in the DEFA film studios took place on March 7, 1970 in the second program of the German television station . Seven repetitions followed by 1991. From July 31, 1970, there were also performances in the cinemas of the GDR. From January 3, 1971, the film was shown in the Federal Republic of Germany , albeit in a 10-minute shorter version .
criticism
In the Neue Zeit wrote Mimosa Künzel:
“Fontane's Effi Briest based on a scenario true to the novel by Christian Collin. How here Effi's zest for life and sparkling spirit die out in helpless resignation, how here in the narrow-minded bourgeois Prussian milieu this blooming life is stifled without anyone rebelling against ridiculous convention - that is shown moving and disturbing.
The lexicon of international films described Effi Briest as a film that, although its effect is weakened by the lack of atmosphere, interprets the meaning of the novel appropriately.
Web links
- Effi Briest in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Effi Briest at filmportal.de
- Effi Briest in the online encyclopedia of television in the GDR
Individual evidence
- ↑ New times . July 8, 1971, p. 4.
- ↑ Effi Briest. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 4, 2019 .