A man sees red

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Movie
German title A man sees red
Original title Death Wish
Death wish de.svg
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1974
length 92 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Michael Winner
script Wendell Mayes
production Dino de Laurentiis
music Herbie Hancock
camera Arthur J. Ornitz
cut Bernard Gribble
occupation
chronology

Successor  →
The man without mercy

A man sees red is an American crime thriller from 1974. Director Michael Winner directed the film based on the novel The Vigilant or a man sees red (or later A man sees red ; original title: Death Wish ) by Brian Garfield . The film is the first part of the Death Wish series .

action

Paul Kersey returns to New York with his wife Joanna after a vacation in Hawaii . He's back to his job in a renowned architectural firm, where the increased crime rate in the city is an issue. Kersey, a liberal , disapproves of calls for draconian punishment for criminals. Meanwhile, Joanna and his daughter Carol are badly mistreated by three teenage criminals in their home after shopping; Carol is forced to have oral sex by one of the perpetrators. While Joanna succumbs to her serious injuries in the hospital, the doctors diagnose Carol with severe psychological trauma. The investigating police officer Briggs gives Kersey little hope that the perpetrators can be found.

Kersey lonely in grief and anger, delves more and more into work. While planning a real estate project in Arizona , Paul and his resident client, the cattle baron Ames Jainchill, go to a western show in Tucson and watch with interest how law and order are restored with a mock shootout. Ames notices Kerseys talent for handling firearms and gives the pacifist a revolver as a thank you for the good cooperation.

Back in New York, Paul learns from his son-in-law, Jack, that Carol is in a catatonic state as a result of the robbery and is being placed in a sanatorium with little chance of recovery. Paul now deliberately goes to the most dangerous places in New York's nightlife with the revolver given by Ames - although he previously had an aversion to guns, as his gun-loving father was shot in a hunting accident, and he later even refused to serve in the Korean War . As a supposed victim, he defends himself with his weapon and first shoots a drug addict who uses gun violence to force money from his victims. Now Paul begins systematically to scare the robbers attacking him or other people at night, leaving them no chance to surrender. More victims, ten in all, follow. Large parts of the population, including Paul's work colleague Sam, celebrate the perpetrator, referred to in the press as the “avenger”, as a kind of hero.

Frank Ochoa is investigating the case for the police, who correctly suspects an act of revenge behind it and is therefore taking a closer look at the male relatives of murder victims in New York. While searching Paul's apartment, he finds suspicious signs and reports them to his superiors. But they are not interested in an arrest of Paul, since the criminal offenses have been reduced by about half in the last few weeks due to his actions in the city and there is also no intention to make him a martyr . In another shootout, Kersey is injured and dragged himself to a factory site. There he is found by the young police officer Reilly, who is instructed by Ochoa not to tell anyone that Kersey had a gun with him.

Ochoa gives Kersey the chance to get out of New York. He accepts and starts a new life in Chicago. Arriving at the train station in Chicago, he watches a group of young men molest a woman - he helps the woman up and makes a “finger gun” against the perpetrators.

background

The film is based on the 1972 novel Death Wish by Paul Garfield (1939-2018), which received good reviews but was not a bestseller. Garfield sold the film rights to producers Hal Landers and Bobby Roberts, who brought in Wendell Mayes, a renowned screenwriter and originally wanted Sidney Lumet to direct. Jack Lemmon was supposed to play the role of Kersey under Lumet , but Lumet left the project to shoot Serpico instead . Frank Sinatra , Clint Eastwood and Gregory Peck were also in discussion for the role of Paul Kersey . When the Italian star producer Dino De Laurentiis got into Death Wish , he engaged Charles Bronson, who was not as successful in the US as in Europe at the time, in the lead role. In the USA, this role therefore shaped Bronson's career and image. Bronson accepted the role despite his acting agent Paul Kohner warning him of the possible controversy of the subject.

Michael Winner from Great Britain , who had made a name for himself in the previous years with some tough crime films and had previously made three films with Bronson, was finally hired as the director . Winner said in 2011 that during the nine weeks of filming he assumed that Death Wish would not be a success, as there were hardly any action-packed scenes and the tone of the film was rather sad. The Kersey character, who was a rather feeble-looking, inconspicuous man in Garfield's novel as well as in the script (and probably would have stayed with Lemmon in the lead role), changed through the collaboration of Bronson and Winner. Author Garfield then distanced himself from the film project because his book vigilante justice portrayed as an attractive fantasy, but ultimately refused: "The story is about a simple guy who falls into madness." With Death Sentence , Garfield delivered a continuation of Death Wish in 1975 .

Jeff Goldblum made his screen debut with Death Wish as one of the three criminals who ambushed Kersey's wife and daughter. Olympia Dukakis plays a small role as a policewoman on the police station.

reception

A man sees red came to American cinemas on July 24, 1974, and to German cinemas on November 1, 1974. At the time, the film fueled heated discussions on the subject of vigilante justice in the USA and Europe, and as a result the film was indexed in Germany. The film was unindexed in February 2018. After a re-examination by the FSK, the uncut version was released from the age of 16. Despite this controversy, Ein Man See Rot became a box-office hit, with a film budget of only around three million US dollars, grossing 22 million dollars in the US alone.

"A cynical film that suggestively and calculatedly uses all means to justify vigilante justice."

- Lexicon of international film

"Made exciting, with an ambiguous message."

- TV movie

"" A man sees red "is not a simple plea for vigilante justice, but rather puts his main character on in an ambivalent manner. At the same time, the film is ultimately far too much entertainment cinema for critical approaches to be deepened. As a thriller, "A man sees red" is implemented very well. "

- Gregor Torinus, film starts

Sequels

Despite lively criticism, there were four sequels by 1993. Except for the fifth part, these are also broadcast regularly in Germany. Part five has so far only been broadcast in German in Austria. Part two and three were again directed by director Michael Winner.

Remake

Paramount Pictures and MGM announced in spring 2016 that they would produce a remake based on a script by Joe Carnahan based on drafts by Michael Ferris and Scott Alexander. The director took Eli Roth after Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado had been eliminated; Bruce Willis plays the main role of Paul Kersey . The film opened in US cinemas on March 2, 2018. The film was shown for the first time in German cinemas on March 8, 2018.

Awards

  • Grammy Award nomination 1975
  • Golden canvas 1976

literature

  • Brian Garfield: A man sees red. Roman (original title: Deathwish ). German by Heinz Nagel. Unabridged edition, 2nd edition. Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main / Berlin 1993, ISBN 3-548-23039-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for A man sees red . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ^ Paul Talbot: Bronson's Loose !: The Making of the Death Wish Films . iUniverse, 2006, ISBN 978-0-595-37982-8 ( google.de [accessed March 20, 2019]).
  3. ↑ Georgia Dehn: Michael Winner recalls filming Death Wish with Charles Bronson, 1974. October 25, 2011, accessed on March 20, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Brian Garfield, Author of 'Death Wish,' Dies at 79.Retrieved March 20, 2019 .
  5. ↑ https://www.schnittberichte.com/news.php?ID=13061
  6. ↑ https://www.schnittberichte.com/ticker.php?ID=4742
  7. ^ Death Wish (1974) - Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 20, 2019 .
  8. ↑ A man sees red. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  9. ↑ A man sees red on tvspielfilm.de
  10. ↑ A man sees red on filmstarts.de
  11. ↑ Mike Fleming, Jr: 'Death Wish' Revamp With Bruce Willis To Be Helmed By 'Big Bad Wolves' Directors Aharon Keshales & Navot Papushado . Deadline. 4th March 2016.
  12. ↑ Mike Fleming Jr .: Eli Roth To Direct Bruce Willis In 'Death Wish' Remake . June 20, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  13. ↑ Film Releases - Death Wish (2018)
  14. ^ A b Awards for Death Wish