A Fleeing Horse (2007)

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Movie
Original title A fleeing horse
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2007
length 96 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Rainer Kaufmann
script Kathrin Richter
Ralf Hertwig
production Rikolt von Gagern
music Annette Focks
camera Klaus Eichhammer
cut Christel Suckow
occupation

A fleehendes Pferd is a German movie from 2007. It is based on Martin Walser 's novella of the same name , published in 1978, about a middle-aged couple whose routine life is called into question when they meet a pushy old acquaintance and his young partner on vacation. The script was written under Walser's supervision and collaboration, is freely based on the motifs of the literary source and emphasizes both its comedic and erotic elements. The film, directed by Rainer Kaufmann, mainly shot on Lake Constance , was released in September 2007 with moderate success.

The majority of the critics praised the great enthusiasm of the four main actors Ulrich Noethen , Katja Riemann , Ulrich Tukur and Petra Schmidt-Schaller , but was otherwise divided. While many reviewers saw a successful summer comedy with depth and very high entertainment value, others recognized an upscale television game with a tendency to flat slapstick, in which important aspects of the novel are neglected. Martin Walser was happy about the cinematic result.

action

Ueberlingen-Nussdorf lido, location of the opening scene

Teacher Helmut Halm, in his mid-forties, has been spending their holidays at Lake Constance with his wife Sabine for many years and lives there in a barred bungalow on the shore. He is a withdrawn melancholic who reads Schopenhauer on vacation and leaves his marriage bed early in the morning to watch rare birds. In the lido he is unexpectedly approached by an old schoolmate. The penetrating good-humored Klaus Buch is accompanied by his much younger, attractive girlfriend Helene, known as Hel. He immediately begins to spread more or less embarrassing memories of his youth for Helmut and to confront him with his current lifelessness.

Helmut would soon like to run away secretly, but Sabine, who suffers from Helmut's waning interest in her and from the all too quiet married life, is not averse to the variety and contact with the boastful and fun-loving Klaus. At his invitation, both couples go on a sailing trip together . Helmut, who can hardly stand it on the water and has to endure further humiliations from Klaus, can comfort himself with the fact that Hel shows an interest in his quiet intellectuality and challenges him with ambiguous allusions and the presentation of her physical charms.

Sunset at Unteruhldingen - in this atmosphere Hel sings a Swedish folk song during the invitation from the Halms and moves Helmut to tears

An evening invitation issued by Sabine to the Halms begins with flirtations between Sabine and Klaus and Helmut and Hel, but ends with Helmut kicking the visitors out after Klaus repeatedly accuses him that his life is actually already over. The charged atmosphere at the Halms discharges into sex, much to Sabine's delight. Helmut blames alcohol for his lack of perseverance, but he is more interested in Hel than his own wife.

The next morning, Klaus and Hel show up again - as new tenants in the neighboring house. At the suggestion of the guests, Helmut leads the couples to bird watching in the reed , where Klaus ridicules him when, after a long and unsuccessful search for the rare bittern, he simulates the bird and Helmut falls for it. Sabine is impressed by Klaus when he catches a runaway horse and brings it back with a rapid ride. The flirtations with each other's partners continue and escalate. Klaus and Sabine get closer while jogging and then bathe naked, while Hel, barely dressed, massages not only Helmut's tension, but also his erection. Sabine warns Helmut that they will be seduced by the visitors and should be careful.

After Hel refuses his advances in a ship's disco, Helmut in his desperation procures “something to smoke”. In the beginning drug intoxication he confesses to Klaus his dissatisfaction with his life. The next day he picks him up for a sailing trip for two in a small dinghy . Klaus suggests trying a new beginning together abroad. He uses the approaching thunderstorm to boldly steer the boat against the waves, while the fearful Helmut wants to turn around. After he triumphantly confesses that Sabine has begged to sleep with him, Klaus is thrown into the roaring water by a wrong steering movement. Helmut refuses him the hand of rescue and Klaus disappears in the floods.

The search of the water police for Klaus remains in vain. Helmut makes desperate reproaches, Sabine does not believe in their sincerity. Hel is comforted by Sabine and Helmut and would like to symbolically bury Klaus, whom she had only known for half a year, the next morning in the lake. Suddenly Klaus stands behind them, unexpectedly alive. After a short discussion, Klaus and Helene suddenly disappeared without a word, leaving Helmut and Sabine alone.

Sabine accuses Helmut of not wanting to be brought out of his bitterness, Helmut replies that Sabine does not dare to go her own way out of fear of herself. Provoked by this, Sabine turns away from him, puts her credit card into her swimsuit and swims out onto the lake in the direction of Switzerland. After a moment's hesitation, Helmut takes off his clothes and follows her. Finally, both of them, clinging to a floating tree trunk, can be drifted further into the unknown.

Emergence

A fleeing horse was made by Rikolt from Gagern's Munich company Gate Film in coproduction with Clasart and ZDF and in collaboration with the Tele München Gruppe . A budget of 3.6 million euros was available. The FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, the MFG Filmförderung Baden-Württemberg and the Filmförderungsanstalt supported production and sales with a total of 1.15 million euros. The concentration of the plot on four main characters saved costs; only a few extras were required, elaborate sets or replicas were omitted. The actual filming lasted seven weeks, from August to October 2006.

Idea and script

The idea for the film came from producer Rikolt von Gagern, who suggested a concept developed by producer Paul Günczler to Martin Walser . He was thus in competition with a similar project from another producer. Walser decided on von Gagern's concept because it already emphasized the humorous nature of the story. The development of the script took almost two years and was done in collaboration with Martin Walser. This gave the scriptwriters Ralf Hertwig and Kathrin Richter a lot of leeway to modernize and adapt the source material to the requirements of a movie. Walser “trained” and “disciplined” eight script versions in his own words. He made sure that the film dialogues are not too close to the book, because “faithfulness to the text means faithfulness to the motif”, and it “was clear that book dialogues should never be film dialogues if they are supposed to be good dialogues.” One of them was 1985 TV adaptation of the same novella directed by Peter Beauvais was, according to Walser, a "catastrophe" and failed because Ulrich Plenzdorf's script "simply plundered the novella".

While the original book, created in 1978, had as a background the conflicting social concepts at the time of the emerging sexual revolution - open-mindedness against narrow- mindedness - according to Rainer Kaufmann, the focus in his film adaptation is on the sustainability of the long-term relationship of the couple Helmut and Sabine and the question of how “You can break up or renovate or change such a relationship in the middle of your life”. In the film, Klaus and Helene are actually characters that emerged from the Halms' subconscious, on the one hand for hope - in the form of eroticism - and on the other hand for fear - in the form of distress and the destruction of the old.

The script transfers the story into the present. Helmut can be woken up by his cell phone , the bird watchers talk about the price of a spotting scope at an internet auction house, the rent of the sailboat is paid in euros and Hel is a Pilates trainer. Klaus Buch mentions 1979 as the year of a high school graduation ceremony long ago, and later he speaks of Helmut's participation in the literature competition for schoolchildren in 1980. Walser also accepted very clear changes to the novella: Helmut's passion for ornithology and his drug addiction were added, the authors wrote a completely new one End of film. Hel's confession about the dissatisfaction with her coexistence with Klaus, which demystifies him in the book, is omitted. Klaus' weaknesses only appear marginally, for example when he is disgusted with a dog or when it turns out on the police boat that he has stolen the sailing dinghy. While in the novella the Buchs health fanatics and the Halms tend to be overweight, lethargic red wine drinkers, the script distributes vices and kindnesses more evenly between the couples. Since Walser finally edited the script and individual passages came from him, the actors were only able to modify the texts to a limited extent.

Direction and cast

Ulrich Noethen (2010)
Katja Riemann

Von Gagern and Günczler chose Rainer Kaufmann as a director early on, because they wanted to “orient the tone somewhat towards French comedies” and avoid a “dry, dusty, heavy film adaptation”. Kaufmann admits to the influence of French cinema and directors like Claude Chabrol and François Truffaut , and he calls himself an entertainment director , which he does not want to see negatively taken. Martin Walser advocated the choice of Kaufmann in advance, according to four DVDs with older works by the director. Especially town talk and one of my oldest friends , the film adaptation of a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald , said Walser. Since Kaufmann managed to transfer Fitzgerald's literary material from the 1920s to the 1990s without any problems, he no longer worried about the adaptation of his own novella from the 1970s.

Established stars of German film were hired to play the roles of the three older main characters in this “very intimate ensemble piece”. Ulrich Noethen plays Helmut Halm . Director Kaufmann appreciates the relationship between seriousness and comedy and the tragedy that he gives a character with a certain ease. Noethen had previously appeared as a teacher in several films and had played Katja Riemann's husband in Bibi Blocksberg and Dasreal Leben . The actress of Sabine Halm has often worked with Rainer Kaufmann since 1989, for example in the successful productions Stadt talk and Die Apothekerin . Ulrich Tukur in the role of Klaus Buch is described by Kaufmann as a completely fearless, carefree actor who likes to give with great ease and skill.

Casting the role of Helene turned out to be more difficult. After auditions with numerous actresses (casting agent: An Dorthe Braker), the decision was made in favor of Petra Schmidt-Schaller , who had not yet had any major box office successes. According to von Gagern, it showed a presence in a cassette that was sent "which is needed in order not to be played on the wall by a star like Ulrich Tukur". Rainer Kaufmann attests to her ability to present the right mix between naivety and naivety on the one hand and eroticism on the other.

According to Kaufmann, the four main actors harmonized very well in front of the camera. Petra Schmidt-Schaller said about the collaboration in an interview that she “came back very enthusiastic from the shoot”. According to Katja Riemann, the main actors were “a tight-knit group of four” and “got on incredibly well”. For Ulrich Noethen, the shooting was one of the best of his career to date . As recently as 2009, Noethen mentioned a fleeing horse in an interview as a clear answer to the question about a film that was particularly important to him in recent years. It was "very intensive, but also very easy, very free work". He had the impression that he was playing in a story that really had to do with the reality of his life. Ulrich Tukur also enjoyed the filming and thought it was wonderful “to play such a pain in the ass”, but his joy was clouded: According to press reports launched as part of the film advertising, he suffered a broken nose during a failed beatings by Ulrich Noethen and was almost in fact drowned after falling into the water as scripted in the storm scene.

Locations

With the exception of a few scenes, a fleeing horse is recorded on Lake Constance, i.e. in the region in which the novel takes place and Martin Walser lives. Significant sights in the area such as the Birnau pilgrimage church or the island of Mainau occasionally appear inconspicuously in the background. As a location scout , Isis Hager from Überlingen supported the production in choosing the locations. Temporary considerations of making the film because of the proximity to Munich as a media location and the industry-specific infrastructure available there on Lake Starnberg were dropped.

The location of the opening scenes is the lido in Überlingen-Nußdorf , the subsequent visit to the café shows the Kursaal and Kurgarten in Überlingen . As the most important location, where almost half of the film was shot, the production was able to rent a bungalow with a lake property and a neighboring house on the north bank of the Überlinger See between Unteruhldingen and Meersburg . From the garden there is a view of the island of Mainau on the opposite bank. The bird observation platform is located at the coordinates 47 ° 40 ′ 34.8 ″  N , 9 ° 7 ′ 24 ″  E in the Wollmatinger Ried . The first sailing trip begins in the port of Unteruhldingen. The aerial photo of the moving car with a subsequent view over the lake shows the Haldenhof above Sipplingen . The fleeing horse is caught in the fields between Überlingen and the district of Hödingen. Sabine and Klaus get closer while jogging at the Lerchenberg war cemetery on the Meersburg– Hagnau high path . The ship disco, the party ship Das Boot , lies in the harbor of Constance , with the Imperia statue visible in the background . The next morning Helmut returns to the other side of the lake on the Konstanz – Meersburg Fritz Arnold car ferry . The storm scenes with Helmut and Klaus in the sailing boat were created in an open-air studio on Malta that specializes in special effects in the water . The remaining sailing scenes were shot in Lake Constance. The dependency on wind and weather turned out to be problematic because the wind strengths required for the intended shoots were rarely available and the wind often changed before the crew could reach the location.

Staging

As a “chamber play in front of a seascape”, the film plot is concentrated on a few locations and is largely dialog-based. Lake Constance is staged as the “fifth main actor”, the story is told at a “leisurely pace and beautiful, bright images” and staged professionally without any restrictions .

If the actors are in motion, the viewer usually stays close to the action by following them with the steadicam . There is seldom a great dynamic of movement or drama, for example in the camera tracking of Klaus' ride, which takes up more than a minute of the film, or in the storm scene.

The work does not develop any unmistakable film aesthetics, few scenes stand out from the mostly conventional, routine image management through the use of unusual cinematic means. In the five-minute café scene shortly after the beginning of the film, the camera circled continuously around the table at which the four protagonists were talking, with the respective actors being shown in the cut and counter-cut . In this way, the series of four of the script, which emerged from the monologue narration of the novella, is optically implemented. In a setting from morning to night Helmut's on drugs, the image changes from the close-up of Helmut verkatertem face in the shot by simultaneously gently zoomed will and drive off the ferry with Helmut on board while the camera remains on the shore.

The main task of the camera is to capture the looks and gestures of the protagonists, occasionally the picture speaks its own symbolic language: Helmut's view through the barred window of the bungalow shows him as an inmate of his emotional prison, a cackling white drake appears as the embodiment of Klaus strutting around in a light suit.

Production design and film music

A Peugeot 505 similar to that of the Halms
Klaus Buch drives a red Citroën Méhari like this one
The ferry Fritz Arnold , finally from which after Helmut spent intoxicated night rare ring-necked duck discovered

The scene designed by Renate Schmaderer avoids a clear assignment to the present time or the time the novella was written. In addition to scenes that were current at the time of shooting, such as the supermarket and the petrol station shop, the bungalow's interior furnishings, with photo wallpaper and large patterned curtains, point to the 1970s, as well as older vehicles and boats. The Halms' car is a Peugeot 505 from 1987. With a Citroën Méhari like the one Klaus Buch drives, Louis de Funès was already patrolling Saint-Tropez as a gendarme . The design of the wooden sailing boats also matches the retro style . On the first sailing trip, the four protagonists are en route in a boat of the class 75 national cruiser built in 1924 . The Fritz Arnold , built in 1963, is the oldest of the ferries operating on the Konstanz-Meersburg line, and there is an older Unimog model on the ship deck in the film .

The music is also related to the retro style found in the furnishings. The composer Annette Focks stated in an interview that the music should "reflect the quiet humor of Martin Walser's novella". In order to rediscover the eroticism of the novella in the music, light jazz with the “flair of the 60s soft porn music ” came up. Everything should sound "old fashion, slightly out of dust". In order to achieve the right sound, old tube microphones and tube amplifiers were sometimes used for the recording . The easy-listening music , partly inspired by swing and partly by Latin American sounds , is played by big bands and jazz combo , partly with orchestra accompaniment. Anette von Eichel and Stephan Scheuss sing wordlessly and lasciviously, Alex Sputh casually whistles some motifs.

Stunts and effects

Klaus' ride on the saddleless horse was largely carried out by stunt double Steve Szigeti, but Ulrich Tukur himself can also be seen riding. Film blood is shed when Helmut hits Klaus' nose with blood in a dream sequence. According to Ulrich Tukur, a metal frame should protect his nose. That slipped when Ulrich Noethen was beaten and Tukur was injured. The sailing dinghy in the storm was filmed in the Mediterranean Film Studios on Malta in a pool by the sea equipped with wind and wave machines, water cannons and slides. Depending on the position of the camera, the surface of the pool merges seamlessly into the sea or the horizon for the viewer, the threatening cloudy sky was created on the computer and was subsequently incorporated into the picture. The Uhldingen volunteer fire brigade took care of the rain in front of the Halms bungalow .

Publications

Premieres and festivals

During the shooting, producer von Gagern expressed the hope that the film could hit the cinemas on March 24, 2007 on Martin Walser's 80th birthday. However, due to lengthy reworking, the world premiere did not take place until June 30, 2007 as the closing film of the Munich Film Festival , and the cinema release was set for the period after the summer vacation on September 20. On September 2, 2007, Petra Schmidt-Schaller presented A Fleeing Horse as the opening film of the 1st  Hachenburg Film Festival, where the film won the audience award. The first official preview in the presence of the four main actors and Martin Walsers was on September 11, 2007 at the Munich production site.

The following day, a second premiere ceremony took place in Überlingen, where Walser was filmed and lived, in honor of the writer and others involved in the making of the film. After a press conference in Walser's garden and a press conference in the Kurhaus Überlingen, the film was shown in the evening in the three halls of the CineGreth cinema in the old Greth trading and grain store . Walser, Rainer Kaufmann, Ulrich Noethen, Petra Schmidt-Schaller and Ulrich Tukur came to the event in a wooden Riva motorboat across Lake Constance and walked on an 86-meter-long red carpet from the jetty past the audience and the press to the cinema. Katja Riemann was absent this time. According to the press, the gap was filled by the "charm of the second leading actress Petra Schmidt-Schaller, who also visibly captured Martin Walser [...]". Baden-Württemberg Minister of State Willi Stächele was one of the speakers in front of the invited guests of honor .

In non-German-speaking countries the film is marketed under the English title Runaway Horse . It was shown at the Göteborg International Film Festival 2008, the World Film Festival Montreal 2008 and the Shanghai International Film Festival 2008 as well as at several festivals of German film organized by the Goethe-Institut around the world .

On April 27, 2009, the co-producer ZDF broadcast Ein flehendes Pferd as TV film of the week for the first time on free-to-air television. Numerous media brought preliminary reports that went beyond the usual television program.

media

A fleeing horse was filmed in 2.35: 1 (16: 9 anamorphic ) format on Kodak film material and with Dolby SRD sound. The Normal Records label released the soundtrack with Annette Fock's compositions on September 21, 2007 on CD. The film has been available on DVD from Concorde Video since April 2008 . Extras include around five minutes of deleted scenes and outtakes as well as a b-roll with two minutes of uncommented video recordings from the shooting. In addition to the cinema trailer and still photos that were already shown in the film advertising, there are short interviews with Ulrich Tukur, Ulrich Noethen, Katja Riemann, Petra Schmidt-Schaller, Rainer Kaufmann and Martin Walser, which together last a good ten minutes.

reception

Visitor numbers

From September 2007 to the end of 2008, around 360,000 cinema-goers in Germany saw a fleeing horse . The film reached number 82 in the list of the most successful international films in 2007 and number 21 of the most successful German films of the year. It had the best placement in the monthly hit lists of the Filmförderungsanstalt with position 15 in October 2007. In the Media Control cinema charts, the film started in week 38/2007 at position 6, fell to position 10 the following week and was no longer in the top ten . In the 2007 annual cinema review, the production was named in connection with the "weak audience response to ambitious films for adults" despite advance praise, with A Fleehendes Pferd in Germany still many times over the critically acclaimed films from the same year as Yella and the eventual Oscar winner The Forgers reached.

The ZDF first broadcast on April 27, 2009 had 4.81 million viewers and, with a market share of 15.7 percent, was “well above the average station market share”.

Reviews

A fleeing horse received a lot of attention from the criticism. The range of assessments ranged from euphoric praise to demolition, but many votes remained moderate in their assessment. The playful ensemble of actors was highlighted. Ulrich Tukur and Ulrich Noethen alternately received both praise and blame for their pointed role representation, Katja Riemann was able to refute some of the negative expectations placed on her and Petra Schmidt-Schaller as a newcomer was occasionally mentioned with praise. A frequent topic was the success of the changes and updates of the script compared to the novella, the conversion of a time-critical work from the late 1970s into a comedic relationship film and a sometimes more, sometimes less experienced loss of level due to the humor that many perceived as flat or shoddy. The film was praised as "technically above average", a main point of criticism is the as kitschy ending.

Jan Schulze-Ojala from Tagesspiegel was particularly positive , who wrote of a “gorgeous film adaptation” and a “bravura piece”: “[...] the film confidently leaves its original behind. He is bursting with conclusive ideas that Walser cannot find; he accentuates and updates the sexual drasticness clearly evident in the book, without clumsily exploiting it; Above all, however, he loves his characters, while Walser, who can hardly give up the moderately productive perspective of Helmut, at best feels pity for them. "Like numerous other reviewers, Schulze-Ojala praises the quartet of leading actors:" Three actors who are dreamy the roles of their lives have been assigned and are now happily united here - complemented by the 27-year-old Petra Schmidt-Schaller, who as a gentle fille fatale fits wonderfully into the ensemble of the knotty mid-forties. A camera [...] that explores its characters as well as the deceptively serene Lake Constance landscape [...]. And an outrageously feather-light Schubiduu-Dabidaa film music […], which, as subtle, junky ear wax, deliciously counterpoints the embarrassment of the protagonists. In short: a coherent work of art. "

According to Alexandra Seitz from the Berliner Zeitung , the "congenial" film adaptation need not fear comparison with the original. The “material that is gently adapted to the cinematic possibilities” is “pure enjoyment, not least as an actor film.” Anke Sterneborg, epd Film , says that Kaufmann “gently brought the 1978 text into the present and emphasized the comedic elements a little without steering the story into the depths of German relationship clothes. ”Above all, it is thanks to the great actor quartet that the literary text begins to shimmer on the screen. With his literary adaptation, Rainer Kaufmann ignited "a summer storm of emotions which, despite all the comedy, also developed great emotional depth".

The Schwäbische Zeitung judged more moderately and saw only an evening breeze instead of the summer storm: “'A fleeing horse' is a dignified film by a craftsman on the director's chair. These cabals and love affairs never get really exciting; the comedic elements are mild like an evening breeze on the lake. There is always a touch of television play over this production - it seems a bit small for the size of a cinema screen. [...] Perhaps there is also a certain sadness in the roles: They hardly invite identification. "

For Sylvie-Sophie Schindler vom Stern , Rainer Kaufmann “succeeded in creating a charming feel-good movie with a subtle popcorn character. Solid entertainment based primarily on sarcasm. ”However, she warns“ of the cheesy ending and the sometimes very strenuous dialogues ”. If the humor control is turned up too much, the film slips in the direction of clothes. She continues: “Anyone who knows the literature will, as usual, have to struggle with their own pictures and miss Walser's profundity. But the great actor ensemble quickly makes up for that […]. The actors are simply to die for. "

Hans-Ulrich Pönack was extremely critical and could not make friends with the “philistines meeting and driveling around the 40-year-olds” and “Komödienstadl auf Intellektuell”: “The German film is once again stressed and relaxed [...]. The constant anger. About the paper chatter of those involved. About the stupid, because unbelievable, fuss. About the foreseeable motives, situations, "results". You crawl pseudo, you get erotic contact; there was no sense of attraction, charm, atmosphere, even "Chabrol" tension. In addition: a blaring offensive music accompaniment [...]. It is a comedic horror, this embarrassing, unemotional analysis-merriment of couple nothing. With Ulrich Noethen, who tries hard to recite her text, Katja Riemann (= holding back, was much worse) and the (intentionally) intrusive and annoying Ulrich Tukur [...]. The film is just annoying, is irrelevant or just offers pure boredom. [...] Loriot, where are you? "

Ulrich Tukur

Julia Encke from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung points out that Martin Walser was “incredibly happy” about the film adaptation, which she herself could not understand at all. Ulrich Noethen plays Helmut Halm, who is not an unsympathetic person in the novella and who is liked there “despite his uptightness and reflected petty bourgeoisie”, as “poor man without charm”. It is only thanks to “the story, Katja Riemann and a really stunning Ulrich Tukur” that the film does not completely succumb to this grumpiness. In addition, "the film simply cannot decide whether to denounce its characters in a slapstick-like manner or discover greatness in their tragic comedy." "This size is essential if the drama is to work in the end."

Wolfgang Höbel assesses the roles of Tukur and Noethen in the Spiegel quite differently . Kaufmann wanted “to make a comedy roar out of Walser's 'Fleeing Horse' […]. Accordingly, Ulrich Tukur dances, pats and flatters such a crazy seducer type [...] that one wonders why it doesn't tear the guy up on the spot for sheer enthusiasm. On the other hand, it is rather difficult to understand what the actually quite smart teacher's wife Sabine can fall for this shameless buffoon [...]. On the other hand, and luckily, Noethen plays his Helmut Halm in the midst of this bustle of comedy as a wonderfully wrinkled wretch. Worseful, opinionated and touchingly funny, this hero rests in self-chosen isolation. [...] “It's a merciless exposure,” says Noethen about his role, “for God's sake you don't want to be like this man.” But it is precisely this ruthlessness that Walsers almost three decades old, clever in many details History that is adapted to the present really saves us into today. The power of the book itself is fed by the tired, perhaps banal, but severely desperate darkness in the heart of the hero. "

For Tilman Krause von der Welt , the “Walser film is too penetratingly sexualized”, which “goes well with the tasteless old-age lust of his last creations”. Walser's praise for Kaufmann's film was pure opportunism, “because what Kaufmann offers is a coarsening that suits the mass tastes of our day [...]. Basically, however, the film version reveals Walser's novella. […] Ulrich Noethen as the long-suffering liver sausage Helmut, on the other hand, takes his part […] in an undifferentiated manner. He may be a brooder who doesn't know what to do next; he is not a philistine, as with Kaufmann. As a German and history teacher at a Munich grammar school in the seventies, you represented something [...] and this Helmut also knows what he is worth (not least because Hel is currently flying on it). Kaufmann's filming fails not only because of the one-dimensionality of its implementation, but also because of the transposition into the present, which works with other mechanisms of distinction . "

Eckhard Fuhr writes in Die Welt about the updates to the script “broken up by historical quotations” in the film equipment: “It is not the least thing that can be said about this film that it lets you watch the cinematic production of timelessness.” His conclusion : “Director Kaufmann and screenwriters Ralf Hertwig and Kathrin Richter used a masterful piece of prose to make a pretty good film. You cant complain."

Rüdiger Suchsland from the Frankfurter Rundschau does not like the timelessness praised by Fuhr : “Walser's novella is always a precise little historical sociogram of the Federal Republic of the 1970s [...]. From today's perspective, the male struggle between bourgeois boring and provocative free spirit may have something antiquated in terms of its scheme. But that would be an interesting challenge. Kaufmann reacts to the difficulty of translating this story into the present day with cloudy arbitrariness and simple illustrations. The director and screenplay never try to reveal anything. The film therefore lacks time and place; Compared to the novella, the plot has been shortened by a number of gloomy turns and consistently turned into comedic, sometimes clumpy. The result is an honest, uninspired film that never succeeds in generating any interest in its 30-year-old material, updating it for the present [...] "

Reactions of Martin Walser and the controversy with the "bourgeois feuilletons"

Martin Walser took part in the public relations work for the film publication. He took part in press conferences and gave interviews, where he described A Fleeing Horse as a "film artwork of its own kind, not a film adaptation". "How the faces tell, in a delicacy, that cannot be written." The new ending leads the story "furiously to an end" and has a lot to do with the psychology and dramaturgy of his novella. The viewer can look forward to “seeing his private tragedies portrayed as a loud comedy.” He refused to compare with his novella: “Constantly comparing a film from literature with the literary original and finding the one better or worse than the other, is nonsense, comes from aesthetic perplexity and no idea. "Those reviewers who had criticized the film on the basis of this comparison, Walser later reproached:" The bourgeois feuilletons believe that they have to prove that they have read the book. That's ridiculous. [...] If you are supposed to review a film, then do a film review, regardless of whether there is a book in the background or not. "

However, some critics made a connection not only to the novella, but also to controversies that had flared up over Walser's speech on the 1998 Peace Prize and his 2002 novel Death of a Critic . It was also Runaway Horse with the tin drum of Nobel laureate Guenter Grass and their Oscar award-winning film adaptation compared alongside those Walser faded successful work and its film adaptation. Tilman Krause assumed that Walser welcomed the "loss of level" of the film compared to the book because, as "eternal second" with a work suitable for the masses, he "finally made a point" to Grass. The immaturity, which leads to the unfiltered expression of one's own instinctual wishes and thus to the indecentities in Walser's latest novels and the current film adaptation, and to which Walser confesses with the statement "expressive people must not become mature at all", had already shown when he was with his peace prize speech and the critic novel scandals. However, the essence of art is not immaturity, but the ability to sublimate .

Awards

Awarded the Bavarian Film Prize for A Fleeing Horse : Petra Schmidt-Schaller

The film evaluation agency Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating particularly valuable . A fleeing horse made it to the shortlist for the German Film Prize 2008 as one of 14 full-program films . In addition to the later nominees, the preselection of the film award was made by: Katja Riemann in the category Best Acting Achievement - Female Leading Role , Petra Schmidt-Schaller and Ulrich Tukur in the supporting roles - categories and Klaus Eichhammer for Best Cinematography / Image Design .

Ulrich Noethen and Annette Focks came one step further in the election for the German Film Prize 2008 with nominations for best leading actor and for best music . Petra Schmidt-Schaller received nominations for the German Film Award 2007 as best actress and the Undine Award 2007 as best young comedian . Christel Suckow was nominated for the 2008 Film + Editing Award .

Two leading actresses were finally presented with trophies: Katja Riemann received a Bambi 2007 in the national film category for Real Life and A Fleeing Horse . Petra Schmidt-Schaller was awarded the Bavarian Film Prize 2007 for the best young actress . She celebrated the laudation as the “most surprising new discovery in the outstanding ensemble of actors” who “combined naivety and naivety with grace and eroticism with convincing ease” and “made a major contribution to the success of this captivating film adaptation with her harmonious play among the four protagonists”.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for A Fleeing Horse . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , June 2007 (PDF; test number: 110 412 K).
  2. ↑ As Christel Sukow
  3. ↑ As Lisa Friedrich : Everyday stars in the spotlight: They become stars one day. In: Sueddeutsche.de. Retrieved September 1, 2012 .
  4. ↑ a b c press booklet, p. 20.
  5. ↑ project data. Crew United, accessed January 27, 2009 .
  6. ↑ a b c Jochen Hieber: How he caught the fleeing horse. In: FAZ No. 213 , September 13, 2007, p. 39 , accessed on September 1, 2012 .
  7. ↑ a b press booklet, p. 10.
  8. ↑ a b c Rainer Kaufmann: press book. P. 12.
  9. ↑ a b Siegmund Kopitzki in an interview with Martin Walser: "Faithfulness to the work means loyalty to the motive". (No longer available online.) In: Suedkurier.de. Archived from the original on December 31, 2010 ; Retrieved February 22, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.suedkurier.de
  10. ↑ a b Eckhard Fuhr: The tremendous luck of Martin Walser. In: Welt Online. September 13, 2007, accessed September 1, 2012 .
  11. ↑ Cordula Dieckmann, dpa: A lively Walser for four. In: Rhein-Zeitung online. September 18, 2007, accessed September 1, 2012 .
  12. ↑ Petra Schmidt-Schaller: press booklet. P. 18.
  13. ↑ a b c Rainer Kaufmann, press booklet, page 13
  14. ↑ Rainer Kaufmann sees himself as an entertainment director. In: Rhein-Zeitung online. September 13, 2007, accessed September 1, 2012 .
  15. ↑ The pirate girl. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. April 25, 2009. Retrieved April 29, 2009 .
  16. ↑ a b Talent and Good Faith. In: Filmreporter.de. Retrieved February 10, 2009 .
  17. ↑ a b Patrick Heidmann in an interview with Katja Riemann: "You let your pants down - so what ?!" (No longer available online.) In: Suedkurier.de. Archived from the original on December 31, 2010 ; Retrieved February 22, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.suedkurier.de
  18. ↑ press release, p. 14.
  19. ↑ Ulrich Noethen in conversation with Deutsche Welle. Retrieved October 4, 2019 .
  20. ↑ a b film stars in Überlingen. (No longer available online.) In: Suedkurier.de. Formerly in the original ; Retrieved September 1, 2012 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.suedkurier.de  
  21. ↑ a b Evi Seibert in an SWR3 interview with Ulrich Tukur: Actor Ulrich Tukur got a bloody nose while filming "A Fleeing Horse" and needed consolation from Evi. (MP3) (No longer available online.) In: SWR3: Die Evi-Show. September 16, 2007, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved October 24, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / podster.de
  22. ↑ Ulrich Tukur almost drowned while filming. In: netzeitung.de. Archived from the original on August 15, 2009 ; Retrieved September 1, 2012 .
  23. ↑ She can be seen as an extra next to a waiting car when Klaus Buch brings back the escaped horse.
  24. ↑ Bernhard Kling: South Souls Affinities. In: Professional Production 10/2007. Retrieved February 20, 2009 .
  25. ↑ Best view of filming. In: Suedkurier.de. Accessed on September 1, 2012 : “Anyone who wants to experience filming up close and perhaps catch a glimpse of Katja Riemann is in good hands on Friday, August 18, in the Strandbad café in Nussdorf [...] while the beach is on that day for the recordings for 'A Fleeing Horse' remains closed "
  26. ↑ Hanspeter Walter: Katja Riemann stands in front of the camera at the lake. In: Suedkurier.de. Retrieved September 1, 2012 .
  27. ↑ Thomas Domjahn: The Lake Constance atmosphere comes across well. In: Suedkurier.de. Retrieved February 22, 2009 .
  28. ↑ For Malta see press booklet, page 11. Some recordings of the shooting in Malta can be seen in the B-roll of the DVD for sale.
  29. ↑ a b A fleeing horse (2007) Or: little trees change you. In: Outnow.ch. Retrieved February 27, 2009 .
  30. ↑ Derek Elley: New Int'l. Release - Runaway Horse. (No longer available online.) In: Variety. January 14, 2008, formerly in the original ; Retrieved September 1, 2012 : "Technical package, including Annette Focks' quizzical score and Klaus Eichhammer's lensing of the beautiful Lake Constance locations, is thoroughly pro."
  31. ↑ Cornelius Hell : The furrow . No. 38 , September 20, 2007, pp. 15 .
  32. ↑ A Fleeing Horse film review. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; Retrieved February 28, 2009 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.doblmann.de  
  33. ^ Peugeot corporate news . Retrieved January 27, 2009 .
  34. ↑ Photo and data of the boat. (No longer available online.) 75sqm Nationale Kreuzer Klasse Bodensee e. V., archived from the original on March 9, 2014 ; Retrieved January 25, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.75qmkreuzer.de
  35. ↑ Interview with Annette Focks from February 15, 2008. (No longer available online.) In: Original Score. Archived from the original on September 22, 2008 ; Retrieved January 24, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.original-score.de
  36. ^ A Fleeing Horse (Annette Focks). (No longer available online.) In: Original Score. Archived from the original on September 22, 2008 ; Retrieved March 18, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.original-score.de
  37. ↑ Steve Szigeti at Crew United. Retrieved February 28, 2009 .
  38. ^ Mediterranean Film Studios: A Fleeing Horse. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 6, 2012 ; Retrieved September 1, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / mfsstudios.com
  39. ↑ Hanspeter Walter: For a moment on location. In: Suedkurier.de. Retrieved September 1, 2012 .
  40. ^ "A fleeing horse": a birthday present for Martin Walser? (No longer available online.) Schwäbische.de, September 13, 2006, formerly in the original ; Retrieved September 1, 2012 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.schwaebische.de  
  41. ^ Hachenburger Filmfest 2007. Accessed on February 22, 2009 .
  42. ↑ a b Martin Baur: Magical film location. (No longer available online.) In: Suedkurier.de. Formerly in the original ; Retrieved February 24, 2009 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.suedkurier.de  
  43. ↑ Hanspeter Walter and Martin Baur: “Charming celebration” inspires the stars. In: Suedkurier.de. Retrieved September 1, 2012 .
  44. ↑ ZDF shows «A fleeing horse» based on Martin Walser. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; Retrieved April 29, 2009 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / de.news.yahoo.com  
  45. ↑ Film hit list: Annual list (German) 2008. (No longer available online.) Filmförderungsanstalt, archived from the original on June 8, 2009 ; Retrieved April 22, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ffa.de
  46. ↑ Annual list (international) 2007. (No longer available online.) Filmförderungsanstalt, archived from the original on December 26, 2008 ; Retrieved January 24, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ffa.de
  47. ↑ Annual list (German) 2007. (No longer available online.) Filmförderungsanstalt, archived from the original on July 15, 2014 ; Retrieved January 24, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ffa.de
  48. ↑ Film hit list October 2007. Filmförderungsanstalt, accessed on January 24, 2009 .
  49. ↑ Media Control Kinocharts Week 38/2007. In: Kino.de. Retrieved February 9, 2009 .
  50. ↑ Media Control Kinocharts week 39/2007. In: Kino.de. Retrieved February 9, 2009 .
  51. ↑ Tops and flops at German box offices. Retrieved September 1, 2009 .
  52. ↑ Primetime check: Monday, April 27, 2009. In : quotemeter.de. Retrieved April 29, 2009 .
  53. ↑ Oliver Baumgarten: ... that you can be reflected in it. In: cut. Retrieved February 28, 2009 .
  54. ↑ Jan Schulz-Ojala: Arsonist at Biedermanns. In: Der Tagesspiegel . September 17, 2009, accessed September 1, 2012 .
  55. ↑ Alexandra Seitz: The well-groomed man . In: Berliner Zeitung . September 19, 2007.
  56. ↑ Anke Sterneborg: A Fleeing Horse - Rainer Kaufmann filmed the novella by Martin Walser. In: epd Film 9/2007. Retrieved April 19, 2015 .
  57. ↑ The master deigned to praise. (No longer available online.) In: Schwäbische Zeitung. June 30, 2007, archived from the original on September 7, 2005 ; Retrieved February 20, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.filmregion.de
  58. ↑ Sylvie-Sophie Schindler: Tick ​​alarm on Lake Constance. In: Stern. September 19, 2007, accessed January 24, 2009 .
  59. ↑ Hans-Ulrich Pönack : "Kugel-Ballett" and relationship barn. In: Deutschlandradio Kultur: Films of the Week. September 19, 2007, accessed March 16, 2009 .
  60. ^ Julia Encke: Biedermann on Lake Constance. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung No. 37 , September 16, 2007, p. 28 , accessed on September 1, 2012 .
  61. ↑ Wolfgang Höbel: Darkness in the heart . In: Der Spiegel . No. 38 , 2007, p. 194 ( online ).
  62. ↑ Tilman Krause: Walser film adaptation too penetratingly sexualized. In: welt.de . September 19, 2007, accessed September 1, 2012 .
  63. ↑ Eckhard Fuhr: Walser is never buried in Lake Constance. In: welt.de . June 29, 2007, accessed September 1, 2012 .
  64. ^ Rüdiger Suchsland: Naked bathing against pessimism . In: Frankfurter Rundschau . September 20, 2007.
  65. ↑ Star line-up at Lake Constance. In: NTV.de. Retrieved February 23, 2009 .
  66. ^ Press booklet, page 19
  67. ↑ Walser: Book and film versions may be different. October 17, 2007, accessed September 1, 2012 .
  68. ↑ Tilman Krause: Forever immature. In: The world. September 21, 2007, accessed September 1, 2012 .
  69. ↑ Expert opinion on "A fleeing horse". Filmbewertungsstelle Wiesbaden, accessed on September 1, 2012 .
  70. ↑ Pre-selection 2008. (PDF; 293 kB) (No longer available online.) German Film Academy, archived from the original on December 19, 2014 ; Retrieved January 24, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.deutsche-filmakademie.de
  71. ↑ film + Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 1, 2012 .
  72. ↑ Bavarian State Portal: Press release and laudation. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 3, 2009 ; Retrieved February 28, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bayern.de
  73. ↑ With quotes from the FAZ by Jochen Hieber , the daily newspaper by Jörg Magenau , the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung by Julia Encke and from the world
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on March 25, 2009 .