First love (1970)

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Movie
German title First love
Original title First Love - The story of one love
Country of production Switzerland
Germany
original language English
Publishing year 1970
length 89 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Maximilian Schell
script Maximilian Schell,
John Gould
production Maximilian Schell
for Franz Seitz Filmproduktion Munich,
Alfa Film Glarus,
Mafilm Budapest
music Mark London
camera Sven Nykvist
cut Dagmar Hirtz
occupation

Erste Liebe is a German-Swiss literary film adaptation by Maximilian Schell from 1970. Schell's first directorial work was based on the novel of the same name by Ivan Turgenev from 1860. The film premiered on July 10, 1970 at the San Sebastian International Film Festival .

action

Russia in the 19th century: the impoverished Princess Zasekina and her 21-year-old daughter Sinaida move into the neighboring house of 16-year-old Alexander. The boy falls in love with Sinaida, who is surrounded by various men, such as Count Malevsky, the doctor Lushin and the poet Maidanov. At first, Sinaida seems to repudiate Alexander's enthusiasm, even if she alternately pushes him away and then showered him with tenderness again.

Alexander's mother doesn't want to know anything about her son's crush on the daughter from the heavily indebted house. However, his father is indifferent or even approving of this. He is often out of the house and even stays away overnight. Sinaida, on the other hand, reacts increasingly sensitively to the secret surveillance of every step by Alexander, who suspects a secret lover. When Alexander follows the advice of one of Sinaida's numerous admirers and watches the meadow between his parents' property and that of Zasekina at night, he suddenly sees his father. He follows him secretly - through the window he finally sees Sinaida, who undresses for his father and, at his instruction, pleases herself .

Alexander experiences how Sinaida treats him like a child the next day and brings her little brother to his playmate. He accuses her of only playing with his love, but Sinaida assures him that she loves him in spite of everything. Alexander's mother, on the other hand, has long been suspicious of her husband and now learns that he has given Princess Zasekina a loan - money that actually belongs to her. She rushed back to town with her husband and son.

A few years later Alexander meets one of Sinaida's admirers in the city, who congratulates him on having broken his love for Sinaida. Another admirer is now missing. Some time later, Alexander rides out with his father. The father stops in a shabby neighborhood and lets Alexander look after the horses. When Alexander follows him some time later, he sees his father talking to Sinaida. The father disappears into her house. A few months later, he meets Maidanov, who tells him that Sinaida is now married to Lushin and is in town. She was lucky because she got pregnant after an affair and Lushin married her anyway. Alexander's father has since passed away and warned his son about women shortly before his death. After a few weeks, Alexander wants to go to Sinaida's hotel, but learns that she died in childbed .

criticism

The lexicon of international films described Erste Liebe as "stylistically very inconsistent, politically updated without persuasive power and modernized in the equipment, with interesting acting performances and good visual work."

Awards

In 1970 , First Love won the Silver Shell at the San Sebastian International Film Festival . In 1971, Erste Liebe received the German Film Prize in the Best Fiction Film category . The film was also nominated as a Swiss entry in the foreign language film category at the 1971 Academy Awards, but lost an investigation into the Italian production against a citizen above suspicion .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus Brüne (Ed.): Lexicon of International Films . Volume 2. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1990, p. 1017.