A gift from the gods

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
Original title A gift from the gods
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2014
length 102 minutes
Age rating FSK 0
JMK 8
Rod
Director Oliver Haffner
script Oliver Haffner
production Ingo Fliess
music Franz Schubert
camera Kaspar Kaven
cut Anja Pohl
occupation

A Gift from the Gods is a feature film by director Oliver Haffner from 2014. The unemployed actress Anna reluctantly takes on the leadership of an acting course for eight long-term unemployed. Despite various opposition to the compulsory educational measure, the frustrated lone fighters gradually form a tight-knit group. A present from the gods had its world premiere on July 28, 2014 at the Munich Film Festival . It opened in theaters on October 9, 2014.

action

Unexpectedly, the actress Anna loses her job at a small city theater, for which she was on stage for years, and she now finds herself in the dreariness of the local job center . At the urging of her theater-loving clerk Schnallenberger, she takes over the management of an acting course for eight long-term unemployed.

So she encounters eight very different characters, "difficult to place": There is Friederike, mother of two daughters who suffers from the unpredictability of her mentally ill husband, dyslexic Max, the jittery long-term intern Linda, the overweight ex-nanny Betty, the tragic driving instructor Hubert , the single librarian Alfred, Franz, who went bankrupt with his carpentry business, and the Greek Dimitri, idealist and doer, who kept an eye on his new course instructor from the start. Anna decides to work on the ancient tragedy " Antigone " by Sophocles .

As might be expected, the actors condemned to acting don't see too much point in it. Everyone is preoccupied with themselves and their own life dramas, there is great distrust. Disappointed, Anna looks for career alternatives and contacts the well-connected director Klaus. However, he is looking for a physical rather than an artistic exchange with Anna. Emily, her roommate and former colleague, fails to build Anna either. Only when Anna happened to meet the desperate driving school teacher Hubert one night, did this moment hold up a mirror to her so that she could see her situation again. She returns to the group with renewed vigor and the participants actually find more and more pleasure in the game and in dealing with the text. Now, of all times, the news arrives that the educational measure will no longer be financed. But to Anna's great astonishment, the group decides to continue rehearsing - in Franz's former workshop. The participants increasingly give each other strength and support, the stuck, personal dramas start to move, and Anna also finds new confidence - and in the process discovers her talent as a director.

It is crackling between her and Dimitri and they spend a night together - Dimitri lets them in on a secret. The next morning there is not much left of the sweet lightness: At the breakfast table, Anna is terribly ashamed of the one-night stand. To make matters worse, Ms. Schnallenberger let her contacts act - the troupe is invited to the city theater to perform their “Antigone”. Everyone is enthusiastic, but Anna gets out: performing with laypeople in front of her old colleagues is inconceivable to her! Especially since Dimitri suddenly disappeared without a trace and the role of King Creon is therefore vacant. The hitherto quiet and weak Friederike Anna resolutely opposes Anna with the words of Antigone and makes it clear to her that she must look her own shame in the eye and not betray the group out of personal cowardice.

The performance is a success. Anna plays Dimitri's role and for the first time feels in the right place on stage and in life. Weeks later, Anna searches for and finds Dimitri in Greece and asks him for a second chance. Whether he will give it to her remains uncertain.

Production and background

The only music used in the film are pieces 3 and 4 from Franz Schubert's Moments musicaux . Haffner heard these pieces by his favorite composer Schubert while he was writing the script. On the one hand, by using it sparingly, he wanted to prevent the emotions in the film from arising primarily from music. On the other hand, he also wanted to support the documentary character of the film. The pianist Rudi Spring recorded the pieces.

The main location was Ulm in Baden-Württemberg .

The film was made in co-production with Südwestrundfunk . The film was funded by the Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg and the German Film Fund .

Almost 30,000 viewers saw the film in the cinema.

Reviews

Cinema rates the film as "a lovable but unsurprising outsider comedy with dramatic undertones". Rainer Gansera comes to a similar conclusion in the Süddeutsche Zeitung : “The story of encouragement based in Ulm is developing predictably, but Oliver Haffner surprises with satirical sharpness.” The SZ receives special praise for the performance of Katharina Marie Schubert. Hans-Ulrich Pönack rates the film on Deutschlandradio Kultur as a surprisingly small, fine ensemble film in which Oliver Haffner has "created a respectable, smart gem". All in all, A Gift from the Gods for him is “a successful, atmospheric German working class comedy about self-respect, dignity and solidarity”.

Awards

Festival participation

Adaptation

On November 10, 2018, a play of the same name premiered on stage in the Museum of the City of Bad Schwartau . The play was staged by the “stage 15” of the Bad Schwartau adult education center. In January 2020, the “Gemischtwarenladen” theater performed the play a number of times at the St. Martin School of Lake Constance . Directed by Dagmar Mader.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for A Gift from the Gods . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , September 2014 (PDF; test number: 146 962 K).
  2. ↑ Age rating for A Gift from the Gods . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ↑ press release. arsenalfilm.de, p. 2 , accessed on March 17, 2015 (pdf, 4.03 MB).
  4. ↑ On location tour with the Film Commission Ulm. www.swp.de, October 8, 2015, accessed October 8, 2015 .
  5. ^ Tilmann P. Gangloff: The agony of choice. www.suedkurier.de, October 31, 2015, accessed on November 3, 2015 .
  6. ↑ A gift from the gods. cinema.de, accessed on March 17, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Rainer Gansera: A gift from the gods. www.sueddeutsche.de, October 9, 2014, accessed on March 17, 2015 .
  8. ↑ Hans-Ulrich Pönack: Exciting revenge on the canvas. www.deutschlandradiokultur.de, October 8, 2014, accessed on March 20, 2015 .
  9. ↑ Notes from June 1, 2015. www.swp.de, June 1, 2015, accessed on June 1, 2015 .
  10. ↑ “stage 15” of the Bad Schwartau adult education center plays: “A Gift from the Gods” . In: the reporter . November 8, 2018 ( online [accessed November 30, 2018]).
  11. ↑ Long-term unemployed play Antigone of all people . In: Südkurier . January 8, 2020 ( online [accessed January 9, 2020]).