A twin seldom comes alone (1998)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | A twin rarely comes alone |
| Original title | The Parent Trap |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language |
English French |
| Publishing year | 1998 |
| length | 127 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK o. A. |
| Rod | |
| Director | Nancy Meyers |
| script |
David Swift Nancy Meyers Charles Shyer |
| production | Charles Shyer |
| music | Alan Silvestri |
| camera | Dean Cundey |
| cut | Stephen A. Rotter |
| occupation | |
| |
A twin seldom comes alone (Original title: The Parent Trap ) is a family film produced by Disney from 1998. The film is a remake of the 1961 film The marriage of their parents announce and is based on the novel Das doppelte Lottchen by Erich Kastner .
The film, which received mostly positive reviews from the critics, was produced by Charles Shyer and directed by his wife Nancy Meyers . Lindsay Lohan plays the two main roles in her first film appearance. A whole range of production techniques were used to enable this dual role.
content
action
Nicholas Parker and Elizabeth James married in 1986 on Queen Elizabeth 2 . Eleven years later, Annie and Hallie, two girls who have never seen each other before, but look very similar, meet at a holiday camp. Angry about this resemblance, they play tricks on each other until Marva, the head of the camp, accidentally falls victim to such a prank. She compels both of them to spend the rest of the time at the holiday camp in the detention center. At first they are not excited about this punishment, but then they realize that their lives fit together like pieces of a puzzle. When they discover that the two halves of their parents' torn wedding photo belong together, they realize they are twins and were separated after they were born. Hallie grew up with her father in Napa , California and Annie with her mother in London .
To get to know the other parent, they decide to swap places. Hallie goes as Annie to London to her mother Elisabeth James, a famous wedding dress designer, and Annie as Hallie to California to her father Nicholas Parker, a winemaker . When Annie arrives at her father's house, she discovers that over the past eight weeks he has made a new friend, the much younger Meredith Blake, who is only after his money. Shaken by this, she phoned Hallie in London. But Hallie isn't worried because her father often has romances. After Nick Parker tells alleged Hallie that he and Meredith want to get married, she is so flabbergasted that she has to confess to Chessy, Hallie's nanny, that she is really Annie. Annie informs Hallie of the new situation, who then decides to reveal her identity to her mother. The twins organize a meeting at a San Francisco hotel to bring their parents back together. Elizabeth flies to California with Hallie and her butler Martin. Nick Parker believes it is a pre-wedding meeting with his fiancée's family, while Hallie has not yet told her mother about Meredith. When Elizabeth briefly runs into Nick in the hotel lobby without being able to speak to him, she realizes that something is wrong and confronts the twins. The two tell their mother about their father's new fiancé and that they are trying to set her up with her ex. In the meantime, Nick Parker searches the hotel for his ex-wife and eventually finds her at the pool some time later. His surprise at the unexpected encounter is intensified when he sees his two daughters, who now also inform him about the role reversal.
The twins invite their parents to dinner on a large motor yacht, sponsored by their grandfather. This is intended to remind of their first encounter on Queen Elizabeth 2. During the conversation, Nick learns that the separation only came about because he did not follow Elizabeth when she was angry eleven years ago when she packed her bags.
The next day, when Elizabeth is about to fly home, the twins force her and Nick to go on a camping trip. There they play several pranks on Meredith, who was coerced by Elizabeth to participate, until she, furiously, gives her fiancé a choice: either she or the two. Without thinking too much, Nick decides for his daughters.
Back home, Elizabeth discovers that Nick still loves her, but reacts just as she did eleven years ago and flies back to London with Annie. When she gets there, Nick and Hallie arrived before her thanks to the Concorde . Nick didn't want to make the same mistake he made eleven years ago and this time he followed her. Shortly afterwards Nick and Liz marry again, Chessy and Martin also find each other.
Differences from the original film
The film is based heavily on the original film The marriage of their parents announce from 1961, in some cases whole text passages were taken over into the remake. One of the biggest changes is that the mother's place of residence has been moved from Boston to London. The producers expected this change to open up new possibilities for the film. The parents' meeting was also relocated from the ex-husband's house to a neutral hotel, as the ex-wife's behavior no longer seemed appropriate. At the beginning of the film, a sequence was added showing Elizabeth and Nick's wedding in order to appeal to an older audience right at the beginning. Overall, the story of the divorced was deepened. Furthermore, the new character of the butler Martin was introduced in the remake, who comes into a relationship with the nanny Chessy in the course of the plot. In return, some roles of the original have been deleted: The manager, the grandmother and the Reverend Mosby have been removed, but Meredith Blake is still on the phone in one scene with a person of the latter name. The actress of the fiancé Vicky in the original, Joanna Barnes , received a guest appearance in the film as the mother of the fiancé Meredith Blake, who is also called Vicky here. Finally, the song Let's Get Together , which was specially written for the original , also appears several times .
production
The film was produced by Charles Shyer and his wife, Nancy Meyers, who directed. Nancy Meyers was originally supposed to direct another film, but since that didn't materialize, she took over. A twin rarely comes alone . Her daughter Hallie Meyers-Shyer, to whom the film is dedicated, gave the impetus for the production. She and her older sister Annie Meyers-Shyer had a certain influence on the production: The names of the main characters go back to them, both got short appearances in the film and the name of Camp Walden is based on a holiday camp, the Annie Meyers-Shyer visited once as a child. Cuppy, Hallie's stuffed animal, was originally a stuffed animal by Annie Meyers-Shyer. It was later marketed as merchandise.
Casting
For the role of Hallie Parker and Annie James, director Nancy Meyers was looking for a girl with a "great charisma". She saw what she was looking for on a video cassette by Lindsay Lohan , and so Lohan got the role four weeks before filming started in Europe. She had her ears pierced especially for the role. Dennis Quaid met the producers at a party who, after a brief chat, had the script sent to him immediately. The choice for the role of Elizabeth James quickly fell on Natasha Richardson . Ilene Starger, who was involved in the production, suggested it early on. Richardson came into the office and read through the scenes.
The casting for the role of Meredith Blake was more complicated: the applicants played the role so hatefully that Nicholas Parker would have looked like a “complete idiot” in the finished film. Elaine Hendrix was the last applicant and eventually got the role. The casting for the role of Nanny Chessy was also difficult because initially nobody had specific plans. Ultimately, the role went to Lisa Ann Walter, known from sitcoms . Simon Kunz originally auditioned for a small role as a photographer at Elizabeth James Design Studio. At the suggestion of Nancy Meyer, he finally took on the role of butler Martin.
There were also some guest appearances in the film. In addition to Annie and Hallie Meyers-Shyer, Dina Lohan, Lindsay Lohan's mother, and her younger sister Alina appear. You have an extra role when Hallie's arrival at London Airport. Lohan's brother Michael also has a guest appearance. He plays the boy who accidentally ended up in camp.
Filming
The shoot ran from July 15 to December 17, 1997 and took place largely in California. The scenes in the holiday camp were shot at Lake Arrowhead in Camp Seeley. The footage of the camping trip was originally intended to be shot in the Big Bear Lake area , but they were also shot at Lake Arrowhead for climatic reasons. Two different hotels were used for the scenes in the fictional Staffort Hotel, while a museum on Treasure Island was used for the facade . The exterior shots of Queen Elizabeth 2 were shot on the ship itself, but the interior shots were shot on the Queen Mary . The recordings in London and Napa were made in the original cities. Some scenes were also bought: The aerial view of London comes from the film King Ralph , although the scene was digitally reworked. The time on Big Ben was also changed. Another example is the plane landing in the rain towards the end of the film. The scene is from the movie The Game .
The text of a scene was changed afterwards. The spot where Hallie shows Annie the photo of Leonardo DiCaprio and she doesn't recognize him was filmed before the premiere of Titanic . After DiCaprio's popularity had risen abruptly with its premiere, the original text seemed unsuitable. According to Nancy Meyers, it would have seemed like Annie came from "another planet".
Trick technique
In the individual scenes, Lohan first played one of the twins, the other was played by a double. The positions were then switched. The double was always either filmed from behind or two different shots were combined into one image in post-production . The motion control system , which saves the cameraman's movements and can automatically repeat them, ensured that the camera's movements were exactly identical . The double enabled Lohan to make a more realistic representation, as it enabled her to make eye contact, for example. In addition, the double created a shadow that could not have been imitated with computer technology. However, this technique also brought certain difficulties, as it had to be very careful about its position in order not to protrude into the other character in the finished film. The producers speak of at least six different girls as doubles.
In some places, for example when one twin is partially covered by the other, the blue screen method was also used . The performers mostly wore a micro speaker specially made for them in order to adapt their own text to the dialogues of the twin who did not exist. In order to save some effort, such an effort was not made in every scene, rather the producers relied on the fact that the viewers, if there are enough scenes with both twins, would not notice the trickery with the double in other scenes.
The producers said they received reports from people who could not believe that they were not a real pair of twins.
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack was composed by Alan Silvestri and released by Hollywood Records in 1998.
The individual titles are listed below.
| title | Songwriter | Interpreter |
|---|---|---|
| LOVE | Bert Kaempfert and Milt Gabler | Nat King Cole |
| Happy club | Bob Geldof and Karl Wallinger | Bob Geldof |
| Soulful Strut | Eugene Record and William Sanders | Young-Holt Unlimited |
| Top Of The World | Richard Carpenter and John Bettis | Shonen Knife |
| Bad to the bone | George Thorogood | George Thorogood & The Destroyers |
| The Great Escape March | Elmer Bernstein and Albert Stillman | |
| Do You Believe In Magic | John Sebastian | The Lovin 'Spoonful |
| There she goes | Lee Anthony Mavers | The La's |
| Here comes the sun | George Harrison | Bob Khaleel |
| Never Let You Go | Gabriel Gilbert and Nick Laird-Clowes | Jakaranda |
| Parents Just Don't Understand | Pete Harris, Will Smith, and Jeffrey A. Townes | DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince |
| In The Mood | Joe Garland | |
| Let's get together | Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman | |
| Everyone Merenge | Joe Bones Johnson | |
| I Love You For Sentimental Reasons | Deek Watson and Willie Best | Linda Ronstadt |
| How bizarre | Alan Jansson and Paul Fuemana | OMC |
| Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye | Cole Porter | Ray Charles and Betty Carter |
| This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) | Charles Jackson and Marvin Yancy | Natalie Cole |
References to pop culture
There are several references to other films in the film. During the march to the isolation hut, the same melody plays as in Broken Chains . In addition, the elevator scene in which Nicholas Parker sees his former wife again after eleven years can be found in One too many in bed . Furthermore, Meredith Blake is referred to by the twins several times as "Cruella De Vil", a reference to the book Hundertundein Dalmatiner, filmed several times by Disney . Mildred Plotka, the person Annie and Hallie pretend to be on the phone with, is also originally a person from Napoleon on Broadway . The most obvious allusion is when Hallie and her mother cross Abbey Road on the way to their design studio . The image stops at the pedestrian crossing known from the cover of the Beatles album of the same name for a split second. Here, Here Comes the Sun in a cover to hear. The original turned out to be too expensive. There are further allusions in the film, but these have been partially lost in the German dubbed version. In one scene, Hallie asks "You talkin 'to me?", A reference to Taxi Driver . In the German version the answer was: “What is that, an early Alzheimer's?” There is also a reference to the American sitcom I Love Lucy at the beginning of the film . This was also dropped in the German version.
synchronization
The synchronization was carried out by Berliner Synchron AG .
| actor | German speaker | role |
|---|---|---|
| Lindsay Lohan | Magdalena Turba | Hallie Parker / Annie James |
| Dennis Quaid | Thomas Danneberg | Nick Parker |
| Natasha Richardson | Susanna Bonaséwicz | Elizabeth James |
| Elaine Hendrix | Sabine Arnhold | Meredith Blake |
| Lisa Ann Walter | Almut Zydra | Chessy |
| Simon Kunz | Matthias Klagges | Martin |
| Polly Holliday | Bettina Schoen-Wildt | Marva Kulp Sr. |
| Maggie Wheeler | Andrea Kathrin Loewig | Marva Kulp Jr. |
| Ronnie Stevens | Werner Ehrlicher | grandfather |
| Maggie Emma Thomas | Leonie Krippendorf | Zoe |
| Courtney Woods | Esra Vural | Nicole |
Publications
The film premiered on July 20, 1998. On the starting weekend in the USA he already grossed over $ 11 million with 2,247 film copies. Overall, revenues in the United States amounted to 66,304,095 US dollars . Outside the US, the film grossed $ 25.80 million. This is offset by a budget of 15.5 million US dollars, making the film a commercial success. In Germany, where the film started on October 15, 1998, 443,653 visitors saw the film in cinemas. In Great Britain the film was only released in a version shortened by one second.
The film has been available on DVD since 2004. As bonus material, there is an additional scene in addition to some production information, in which Hallie meets the Queen before arriving at her mother's in London. A Blu Ray release is currently not in sight (2016).
The following table lists the cinema release dates together with the individual film titles.
| country | Theatrical release | title |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | October 15, 1998 | A twin rarely comes alone |
| Austria | October 16, 1998 | A twin rarely comes alone |
| Argentina | January 28, 1999 | Juego de gemelas |
| Brazil | February 12, 1999 | Operação Cupid |
| Bulgaria | January 29, 1999 | Капан за родители |
| Finland | February 26, 1999 | Ansa vanhemmille |
| France | March 31, 1999 | À nous quatre |
| Greece | Didymoi loaded | |
| Israel | July 30, 1998 | Abba Mitares |
| Italy | June 4, 1999 | Genitori in trappola |
| Japan | August 14, 1999 | Family game |
| Canada | July 29, 1998 | L'attrape parents |
| Croatia | Zamka za roditelje | |
| Netherlands | October 15, 1998 | Dubbel & Dwars |
| Norway | December 24, 1998 | Foreldrefellen |
| Peru | 1999 | Juego de gemelas |
| Poland | October 23, 1998 | Never wierzcie blizniaczkom |
| Portugal | December 11, 1998 | Pai para Mim ... Mãe para Ti ... |
| Russia | Ловушка для родителей | |
| Sweden | December 25, 1998 | Föräldrafällan |
| Spain | 4th December 1998 | Tú a Londres y yo a California |
| Turkey | November 6, 1998 | Komik tuzak |
| Hungary | February 25, 1999 | Apád-anyád ide jöjjön! |
| United States | July 29, 1998 | The Parent Trap (Original title) |
reception
criticism
The film was largely received positively by the critics. On Rotten Tomatoes , the film scores an average of 86%. Lindsay Lohan's performance was particularly praised. The different accents that have been lost in the German version are also highlighted. For example, At-A-Glance Filmreviews describes the performance as so natural that one forgets that these are special effects. The performances of the other actors were less emphasized, that of Dennis Quaid was even described by cinerama as rather flat. A major point of criticism was the running length of more than two hours, which some consider to be too long for a film aimed at children. At the same time, however, there were also views that the film was progressing too quickly in the plot. Mdpress described this as a hole that prevails in the middle of the film. Screenit was also of the opinion that a “gold mine” of potential scenes in which the twins swap roles had been left out.
Despite the positive result, there were also rather negative reviews. So felt James Berardinelli the film as unnecessary remake. He also regards Lohan's performance, which has been praised by other critics, as rather clumsy and the different accents as unconvincing. Mr. Cranky especially criticizes the living conditions shown in the film, since the characters belong to the upper class of society and have no social problems. However, the director Nancy Meyers explains in the audio commentary on the DVD that this position was chosen in order to create a certain distance from the viewer.
Awards
Lindsay Lohan won the Young Artist Award in the category Best Actress in a Feature Film for her roles in film and was nominated for the YoungStar Awards and the Blockbuster Entertainment Award . The film itself was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Family Feature Film - Comedy , but the prize went to The Mask of Zorro . The film was given the rating “valuable” by the German film and media rating.
Individual evidence
- ↑ IMDb. Retrieved May 19, 2013 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q DVD with bonus material
- ↑ a b IMDb income overview. Retrieved May 19, 2013 .
- ↑ List of locations in the IMDb. Retrieved May 19, 2013 .
- ↑ musiksammler.de. Retrieved June 29, 2013 .
- ↑ IMDb. Retrieved May 19, 2013 .
- ↑ IMDb. Retrieved May 19, 2013 .
- ↑ a b Release dates in the IMDB. Retrieved May 19, 2013 .
- ↑ Film on Kino.de. Retrieved May 19, 2013 .
- ↑ IMDb. Retrieved May 19, 2013 .
- ^ Film on Spielfilm.de. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 16, 2010 ; Retrieved May 19, 2013 .
- ↑ jackasscritics.com. Retrieved May 19, 2013 .
- ↑ Rotentomatoes. Retrieved May 15, 2013 .
- ^ Critique from artechock.de. Retrieved May 15, 2013 .
- ↑ criticism from reelfilm.com. Retrieved May 15, 2013 .
- ↑ Critique from rinkworks.com. Retrieved May 15, 2013 .
- ↑ Critique of cinerama. Retrieved May 15, 2013 .
- ↑ Critique of eyeforfilm. Retrieved May 15, 2013 .
- ↑ Critique of urbancinefile. Retrieved May 15, 2013 .
- ↑ criticism from md-press.com. Retrieved May 15, 2013 .
- ↑ criticism from screenit.com. Retrieved May 15, 2013 .
- ^ Review by James Berardinelli on reelviews.net. Retrieved May 15, 2013 .
- ↑ criticism from mrcranky.com. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 10, 2011 ; accessed on May 15, 2013 .
- ^ List of awards in the IMDb. Retrieved May 19, 2013 .
- ↑ Entry in the German Film and Media Rating. Retrieved May 19, 2013 .
literature
- Erich Kästner : The double lottery. A novel for children, with illustrations by Walter Trier . Dressler-Verlag, Hamburg and Atrium-Verlag, Zurich 2000, ISBN 3-7915-3034-8 .
Web links
- A Parent Trap in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Parent Trap atRotten Tomatoes(English)
- Screenplay on daily script (English, PDF document; 174 kB)