European slave life (1912)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | European slave life |
| Country of production | German Empire |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1912 |
| length | approx. 43 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Emil Justitz |
| script | Emil Justitz based on the novel of the same name (1854) by Friedrich Wilhelm Hackländer |
| production | Bonanza art film |
| occupation | |
European slave life is a German silent film drama from 1912. A number of subsequently famous film and theater artists appeared under the direction of Emil Justitz .
action
European slave life was understood by the novelist Friedrich Wilhelm Hackländer as a parodistic-analytical answer to Harriet Beecher-Stowe's world-famous novel Onkel Toms Hütte from 1852. At the center of the action are European people from different social classes, each of whom feels enslaved in a certain way. Social conditions force people without their possessions into a desperate situation. Clara Staiger, for example, tries to preserve her innocence as a dancer. She is a strong personality who sacrifices her youth for the family. Her father earns his living more poorly than well with translations, until late at night he sits at the translation of Uncle Tom's hut in the dim light . He found that the conditions in Germany can be compared with those of the black slaves in Beecher-Stowe's time, and that the details are even worse for certain marginalized groups.
Staiger sees the participation of the upper classes in Germany during the imperial era only as a pretext to distract attention from one's own problems. Even the rich in the country, who ought to have every reason to feel like happy people, are caught in a web of obligations, expectations and problems and are by no means as free as they claim to be. Using the example of Baron Brand, a variety of alleged luck is shown as a symbol of double morality and lack of freedom. The nobleman leads a double existence that ends one day in tragedy: outwardly pretending to be the elegant gentleman of the upper class, he actually leads the life of a head of a criminal organization.
Production notes
European slave life , working title: Heroine of the Black Mountains , passed film censorship in September 1912 and premiered that same month. The film had three acts, spread over, depending on the cut, 801 or 779 meters in length. The film had 62 subtitles.
The novel of the same name by Friedrich Wilhelm Hackländer served as a literary model .