El Cantor

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Movie
Original title El Cantor
Country of production GDR
original language German
Publishing year 1977
length 85 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Dean Reed
script Dean Reed
production DEFA
on behalf of
East German television
music Karel Svoboda
camera Hans Heinrich
cut Ruth Ebel
occupation

El Cantor is a German television film by Dean Reed from 1977. The film, produced by DEFA on behalf of East German television, deals with the last few weeks in the life of the singer Víctor Jara .

action

The singer El Cantor lives in Santiago de Chile with his wife Janet, a dancer, and their two daughters . He supports the Unidad Popular with his songs and stands behind the popularly elected communist president Salvador Allende . Through a friend he learns that a coup is looming on Allende and that his life could also be threatened, but El Cantor sees no reason to give up his normal life. He appears with Isabel and Angel Parra at a protest, which is interrupted by a heckler.

A little later, he and his wife and members of the Communist Party of Chile are helping villagers whose houses were destroyed in a storm. He takes the now homeless children to Santiago, where they are accommodated in Janet's dance practice room. He has to drive twice to pick up all the children. El Cantor's car is followed the second time by a Mercedes and despite several attempts he cannot shake the car off. When a boy imitates shots at the Mercedes with his finger from the roof window of his car, he is shot by a man in the chase car. A little later, El Cantor is invited to an interview with NBC and is so furious about the boy's death and the US's aggressive stance towards Chile that the interview is broken off. Meanwhile, Carlos Prats has resigned as army chief and Augusto Pinochet has been appointed commander in chief of the army.

El Cantor and his wife finally hear on the radio that Allende's seat of government has been surrounded. El Cantor says goodbye to his wife and rushes to the university. Here, like many others present, he was arrested and held captive in the Santiago stadium. The security guard who took his personal details recognized him from a concert and covered him. At the stadium, El Cantor receives every paper they can find from his fellow prisoners and writes down his thoughts in song form. He is discovered and recognized by a security guard during a paper smuggling operation. The top military man present breaks both hands with his rifle. He is being dragged away.

A little later, Janet is shown to her husband's body. The funeral will take place soon after.

production

Dean Reed had met Víctor Jara in November 1970 on the occasion of Salvador Allende's inauguration. El Cantor is largely based on Jara's last three weeks of life. In the run-up to filming, Reed spoke to Jara's widow Joan Turner-Jara and the singer's companion, among others. Jara's name is never mentioned in the film. Reed sings several of Jara's songs, including Venceremos . Guest appearances are made by the Chilean songwriters Isabel and Angel Parra, Clodomiro Almeyda , Hernan del Canto , member of the Central Committee of the Chilean Socialist Party, Alejandro Rojas , former president of the Chilean student union, and the Chilean singing group Aparcoas. Reed dedicated El Cantor to "Victor Jara and the struggle of the Chilean people".

The external shooting for the film took place in Bulgaria . The film had its world premiere on December 11, 1977 in the Berlin cosmos during a solidarity event of the Central Council of the FDJ and the television of the GDR. It first ran on television on January 1, 1978. In 2010, the film was released on DVD as part of Icestorm's DDR TV Archive series .

synchronization

role actor Voice actor
El Cantor Dean Reed Klaus Piontek
José Georgi Rositsch Martin Trettau
Mr. Fowler Damyan Antonov Bruno Carstens
Clergyman Vladimir Yochev Host papke
Mayoress Dmitrina Sawova Eva Schäfer
El Cantor's mother Christina Sotirova Lotte Loebinger
General Lopez Gergi Gerow Günter Rüger
Roberto Frank Bey Manfred Struck
Choir director Isabel Orejana Barbara Schnitzler
Colonel Baker Nikola Dadow Alfred Struwe
official Stefan Pejchev Fred Alexander
Isabel Parra Isabel Parra Renate Rennhack
Old farm laborer Georgi Shirokov Werner Kamenik

criticism

The Lexicon of International Films wrote: “The American singer Dean Reed embodies him [Víctor Jara] in this television film he has directed. As usual emphatic and with big melodramatic gestures, his well-intentioned playing is more contrary to the issue. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ El Cantor. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 7, 2018 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used