Enigma - an unacknowledged love

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Movie
Original title Enigma - an unacknowledged love
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2005
length 80 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Volker Schlöndorff
script Volker Schlöndorff,
Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
music Benedict slate
camera Tomas Erhart
cut Heidi Handorf
occupation

Enigma - An unacknowledged love is a television film released in 2005 by the film director Volker Schlöndorff . It is based on the drama Variations Enigmatiques by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt , which Schlöndorff had previously staged with the same cast at the Renaissance Theater in Berlin . Mario Adorf and Justus von Dohnányi play the only two roles. It premiered on September 9, 2005 on ARD .

action

The two protagonists are the writers Abel Znorko and Erik Larsen, who have gained fame and social prestige, but who live isolated from society and who pretend to be a journalist in order to get in touch with Znorko personally. In reality, Erik Larsen is a music teacher and the widower of Znorko's former lover.

Although the author habitually rejects all press inquiries, he fulfills Larsen's request for an interview and invites him to his home. When Larsen arrives on Znorko's island, the author denies this invitation, but finally agrees to the interview.

The conversation between the two, both in their lifestyle and in their views of opposing characters, only initially revolves around the author's latest book, a collection of mutual love letters from two apparently fictional protagonists. As it turns out, the two are the main characters of the film itself, as Erik Larsen continued to answer the real love letters from the writer Znorko addressed to his wife over a period of ten years after her death.

In essence, it is about problems of interpersonal relationships such as authenticity and the durability of a love relationship. Above all, the drama revolves around the conflict between two opposing approaches to promises of happiness from the phenomenon of love.

Film music

In the film, the Enigma variations by Edward Elgar are played, which are also eponymous for the film and the play. Abel Znorko puts the record on and explains that the variations are based on a theme that is always present but never sounds. The riddle around this main topic has not yet been resolved. The work thus stands for the conflict between the two protagonists and the woman who both loved them.

“Suddenly a woman is at the center of the conversation. It will never appear on stage and yet it will always be present. [...] It is an enigma, a riddle that the two men are bitterly fighting over. Schmitt introduces the riddle, one believes the solution is noticeably close and ultimately it disappears again, slips away. "

- Ganz-muenchen.de

criticism

“The Mannerist script aims too much at compact punchlines and quotable catchphrases to be touchable; the dialogues remain on the surface. "

“The play seems a bit constructed, and because of the language of the theater, the impression that it is a real event doesn't even arise. [...] It is an exciting verbal duel with several unexpected twists and turns that is played by two excellent actors. The role of the egomaniacal Nobel Prize winner Abel Znorko [...] is terrific. It is worth seeing how this rock becomes brittle in the course of the conflict in the surf. "

- Dieter Wunderlich : Review of Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt's book

Emergence

The shooting took place in Berlin and Måløy (Norway).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Mario Adorf filmed "Enigma - an unacknowledged love". In: Ganz-muenchen.de. Retrieved January 9, 2015 .
  2. Enigma - An Unacknowledged Love. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 31, 2016 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. Dieter Wunderlich: Enigma. An unacknowledged love. Retrieved February 18, 2020.