God Protects Lovers (1973)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | God protects the lovers |
 | |
| Country of production | Federal Republic of Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1973 |
| length | 111 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Alfred Vohrer |
| script | Manfred Purzer |
| production | Luggi Waldleitner ( Roxy-Film ), Paramount-Orion Film |
| music | Hans-Martin Majewski |
| camera | Charly Steinberger |
| cut |
Eva Schroeder-Kohlschein , Ingrid Schneider |
| occupation | |
| |
God protects the lovers is a German feature film from 1973. The film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Johannes Mario Simmel , directed by Alfred Vohrer , premiered on October 4, 1973 in the Rex cinema in Mainz .
action
The engineer Paul Holland makes his girlfriend Sybille a marriage proposal shortly before a business trip, which she accepts. When Paul returned to Berlin , Sybille disappeared without a trace. The police hardly take Paul's missing person report seriously. In the evening, Paul meets a stranger in Sybille's apartment who threatens him with a gun. Paul succeeds in driving the intruder to flight. Paul's attention is drawn to a message on the answering machine. He learns from an address in Vienna where his fiancée must have gone.
Paul Holland made his own way there. The trail leads him to a villa in which a dead man lies. In front of the house, Paul can stop a car that is just leaving. The driver is Sybille, who knocks Paul down and runs away. Paul does not tell the police who arrived a little later that his fiancée was at the scene. Little does he know that Commissioner Putulski is in contact with Sybille and even knows that she is in Vienna. At the hotel Paul receives a message from Sybille, whom he meets late at night. Instead of answering his questions, however, she urged Paul to return to Berlin. After a while she would come and explain everything. Then Sybille disappears in the dark. That same night, with Putulski's help, she went into hiding in a monastery.
The next day Paul wakes up in the apartment of a woman who calls herself Anna. To help Paul find his fiancée, Anna introduces him to a friend. He initially asks 5,000 DM , which Paul wants to get hold of by the next morning. When Paul returns to the hotel, Putulski is already waiting for him. The officer now reports to Paul in detail about Sybille, whose real name is Viktoria Brunswick and who works as an undercover police officer. In this role, she was supposed to track down an Italian mafia family almost two years ago who had relocated their area of operations to the area around Barcelona . In order to find the hiding place of "La Mamma", the head of the family Signora Trenti, Viktoria received a delicate assignment: she was supposed to start a relationship with Emilio Trenti, the youngest son of the family.
After a short time Viktoria had to find out that she had seriously fallen in love with Emilio. Both wanted to get married, although Emilio's half-brothers Vittorio and Ricardo were strictly against it. In addition, Emilio still had to break an existing engagement with a certain Laura. A few days before Viktoria was due to be introduced to her mother, she resigned from the police force. However, the officers managed to dig up the hiding place of the mafia family. Signora Trenti was killed in the hail of bullets. The decisive tip, however, was provided by the jealous Laura, who drew suspicion on Victoria in order to marry Emilio after all. To protect Viktoria from the vengeance of the Trentis, she went into hiding in Berlin under the name Sybille Loredo. After she met Paul there, she was tracked down by the Trentis. Sybille then traveled to Vienna to meet Emilio and convince him of her innocence. A final discussion took place in a villa, during which Laura was exposed as a traitor. In the end, she saw no other way out than to shoot Emilio. At that very moment, Paul arrived at the property.
Paul reports to Commissioner Putulski about his evening meeting with Anna, who is really Laura. The investigator asks Paul to meet her and continue to play the clueless. Vittorio Trenti can initially be lured into a trap and arrested by a fictitious letter that Paul shows Laura. Paul is also to be harnessed again when Laura is captured. He meets her for a walk, but deviates from the route agreed with the police in order to get her to make a voluntary confession. Just as Paul was talking to Putulski and Sybille from a phone booth, Laura shot him in cold blood. But another fatal shot is fired. It comes from Ricardo's gun and is intended for Laura.
History of origin
Filming
God protects the lovers was already the fifth film adaptation based on a template by Johannes Mario Simmel , which producer Luggi Waldleitner brought to the screen in collaboration with director Alfred Vohrer and screenwriter Manfred Purzer . In 1972, the Pushkin adaptation And the Rain Blurs every trace was realized in a similar style.
The film God protects the lovers , filmed in original locations in West Berlin (including Berlin-Tempelhof airport ), Vienna , Munich ( Hotel Königshof ) and Spain (including Barcelona , Hotel Cap Sa Sal near Begur ) was made in a co-production between Waldleitner's Roxy film and the Munich-based Paramount-Orion Film. Azor Films in Madrid and Zafes Film in Rome also worked as service partners in the production of the film. Filming took place from April 28 to June 16, 1973. Margot Schönberger was responsible for the costumes. The assistant director was Eva Ebner .
Film music
The soundtrack comes from the pen of Hans-Martin Majewski . The theme song was published in 2003 under the title Love Theme on the CD Hans-Martin Majewski - German Film Composers Episode 10 .
reception
publication
God protects the lovers was released on September 4, 1973 by the FSK from the age of 12 and premiered on October 4 of the same year in the Rex cinema in Mainz . The distributor Cinema International Corporation , which marketed the film in the Federal Republic of Germany, promised in the trailer a "gorgeous filmed by Alfred Vohrer" production.
The film was first broadcast on German television on December 8, 1978 on ZDF . The film was also released on video cassette (Taurus Video) and in 2013 on DVD .
The film could also be marketed abroad and ran there under the following titles, among others:
- Italy : Ordine Interpol: senza un attimo di tregua
- Spain Orden de Interpol: sin un momento de tregua
Reviews
“Before the Wallace and Simmel specialist Alfred Vohrer sank completely into dreary routine, he helped himself to a new reputation in a kind of artistic feat with his latest Simmel work“ God protects the lovers ”. The fifth film, based on a book by the famous bestseller manufacturer, turned out best for him. Careful actor and camera work, an overlooked plot, well-dosed tension and the smell of expanse so typical for Simmel resulted in the right mixture this time. Wrapped in matt colors and melancholy music, the melodrama runs across the screen to its bitter end. In addition to the two main actors Harald Leipnitz and Gila von Weitershausen, there are a number of less popular actors who, when used deliberately as types, prove their skills. [...] In the midst of this group of good and very good mimes, the ex-angel Gila von Weitershausen looks a bit pale. If you are looking for entertainment and excitement in the cinema, you will find both in good quality here. Maybe not the best Simmel, but probably the best Vohrer. "
"Elaborate colportage with a stupid, implausible plot in a very moderate staging."
Awards
The German Film and Media Assessment (FBW) awarded the film in 1973 with the rating “valuable”.
In the same year God protects the lovers was shown at the International Film Festival of India in New Delhi .
In 1974 Charly Steinberger was awarded the gold film tape for the camera work in the films One of Us Two and God Protects the Lovers .
In addition, the film received a prize from the Federal Ministry of the Interior amounting to DM 200,000.
Another film adaptation
Directed by Carlo Rola , the novel was remade as a television film in 2008. Peter Simonischek and Iris Berben played the main roles .
literature
- Johannes Mario Simmel : God protects lovers . Approved, unabridged paperback edition. Heyne, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-453-01827-3 , 314 pp.
Web links
- God protects the lovers in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- God protects the lovers at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ 111 minutes for cinema projection (24 images / second), 107 minutes for television playback (25 images / second), film length: 3041 meters
- ↑ CD Hans-Martin Majewski - German Film Composers, Volume 10 . Bear Family Records . 2003. Order no. BCD 16490 AR
- ↑ God protects the lovers. In: Abendblatt.de. Hamburger Abendblatt , October 6, 1973, accessed on May 26, 2018 .
- ↑ God protects the lovers. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed July 1, 2017 .