Morgenrot pit
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Morgenrot pit |
| Country of production | Germany (East) |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1948 |
| length | 88 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Erich friend Wolfgang Schleif |
| script |
Joachim Barckhausen Alexander Count Stenbock-Fermor |
| production | DEFA |
| music | Wolfgang Zeller |
| camera |
Ernst Wilhelm Fiedler Alfred Westphal |
| cut | Hermann Ludwig |
| occupation | |
| |
Grube Morgenrot is a German DEFA film drama directed by Erich Freund and Wolfgang Schleif from 1948.
action
Shortly after the end of the Second World War , the “Morgenrot” coal mine lay fallow. The occupying power gave the worker Wagner permission to reopen the mine under the direction of the workers. The former miners of the pit gather eagerly on the mine site. Wagner is unanimously appointed head of the mine, but they are still waiting for Comrade Rothkegel, who used to be a great role model for many miners . A little later, when a young worker expressed doubts as to whether workers could manage a mine on their own, the older miners told him how a similar situation had arisen as early as 1931.
The year 1931: The world economic crisis dominates the country and does not stop at coal mining. Because the “Morgenrot” mine does not provide enough coal and is therefore no longer profitable, it should be closed. The miners rebel against the planned closure and thus dismissal. The plant director sees only one way out: more coal has to be extracted for the same operating costs. Worker Wagner had already developed a cutting machine earlier , with which more coal can be extracted in a shorter time. However, it also increases the risk of a carbonic acid outbreak , which would pose a potential threat to the lives of the miners underground. The decision to use the cutting machine, which is forbidden because of its danger to human life, rests with Steiger Ernst Rothkegel.
Rothkegel has just been trained as a steiger and has come back to the "Morgenroth" pit. He is initially against the use of the cutting machine. However, when his pregnant sister Hertha and her friend, friend Fritz, attempted suicide in view of the threat of job loss, Rothkegel realizes how important it is to keep the work in the pit for all of the miners. He agrees to the use of the cutting machine. The mining numbers of coal increase within a very short time. When the exhausted Fritz is supposed to take over the supervision of a miner's lamp one day, through which a possible carbonic acid outbreak can be noticed, he collapses a short time later next to the lamp. Ernst Rothkegel only notices this when it is too late: 151 friends lose their lives in the sudden outbreak of carbon dioxide, including Fritz. Rothkegel, however, can be saved.
The miners' sacrifice is not worth it: the management decides on the final closure of the mine, which is to be enforced by the company police. The workers, however, resist the evacuation of the site and retreat underground, where they go on hunger strike. The factory premises are occupied by the wives and children of the workers. The workers' action aroused interest across the country and numerous newspapers reported about it. The directors of the mine see a possible subsidy of profitable mines of 20 million Reichsmarks in jeopardy due to the negative reporting and finally decide simply to give the mine to the workers. While the miners feel like winners, Ernst Rothkegel knows that the operation of the mine will not be feasible for the workers. He tries to talk the miners out of taking over the pit, but is now viewed by them as an opponent. He goes.
In 1945 the miners now know that Rothkegel was right, as they could only hold the mine for 71 days before it had to close due to lack of money. Rothkegel, who was imprisoned in a concentration camp under the Nazis because of his socialist attitudes, returns to his old “Morgenrot” pit. He speaks to the buddies - this time he is behind the workers' takeover of the mine because it is a real takeover and not a badly meant gift. In addition, all pits are now in the hands of the workers. Coal, on the other hand, is a useful commodity - more than ever at this time.
production
The plot of the film goes back to real events in 1930 in the Silesian Waldburg. As early as 1934, Joachim Barckhausen had offered the material to UFA , which, however, did not want to stage it: "It was understood that the anti-capitalist tendencies that the Nazis initially exhibited were not far off." After the end of the Second World War , Slatan Dudow campaigned for the material at DEFA. In the winter of 1946/1947 the screenplay was finally written, the underlying authentic story of which was supplemented by a framework plot in the period around July 1945.
Large parts of the film were shot from 1947 to 1948 in the Estav pits in Zwickau and Gottessegen in Oelsnitz . Numerous extras in the film were miners. Grube Morgenrot was the first DEFA film to focus on workers. The film starts with the dedication: “We dedicate this film to the miners who have played a decisive role in building the new democratic Germany.” Grube Morgenrot premiered on July 9, 1948 in the Babylon cinema in Berlin .
criticism
The contemporary critics rated the film contrary: The atmosphere of the film was praised - “The coal dust is not only in the shaft and on the faces, it presses everything. This was made noticeable with very simple means, without exaggeration, without sought-after image effects. The excellent mine photos remain in the memory ”. Other critics pointed to "the wrong line of the whole", so suicide attempts, unemployment and hopeless love are "hardly the appropriate props for a film that, with its artistic possibilities, would have had what it takes to become the song of praise for work today . "
In 1984, Fred Gehler called Grube Morgenrot “the lesson of great beginnings. The authors can be given respectful and praiseworthy assurance that they have recognized the 'historical significance' of the historical episode and told it in this way. "
For film-dienst , Grube Morgenrot was “one of the first DEFA films to be celebrated in New Germany as their 'first world-class film' because of its proletarian heroes . He cannot meet this demand in terms of the production, but it is important in terms of film history. "
literature
- Morgenrot pit . In: F.-B. Habel: The great lexicon of DEFA feature films . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-349-7 , pp. 220-221.
Web links
- Pit dawn in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Morgenrot pit at filmportal.de
- Morgenrot pit at the DEFA Foundation
Individual evidence
- ↑ Joachim Barkhausen. Quoted from Ralf Schenk (ed.), Filmmuseum Potsdam (ed.): The second life of the film city Babelsberg. DEFA feature films 1946–1992 . Henschel, Berlin 1994, p. 20.
- ↑ a b Fred Gehler: An island in the sea. Memories of “Grube Morgenrot” (1948) . In: Film und Fernsehen , No. 3, 1984.
- ↑ Morgenrot Pit . In: F.-B. Habel: The great lexicon of DEFA feature films . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, p. 221.
- ↑ Quotation after the opening credits of the film.
- ^ Leo Menter: Film Mosaic . In: Weltbühne , No. 29, 1948, pp. 886–887.
- ↑ Hugo Hermann: "Grube Morgenrot" in the twilight . In: Daily Review , July 11, 1948.
- ↑ Morgenrot Pit. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .