Christmas Eve in St. Pauli
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Christmas Eve in St. Pauli |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1968 |
| length | 51 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Klaus Wildenhahn |
| script | Klaus Wildenhahn |
| production | Dieter Meichsner |
| camera | Hans-Joachim Theuerkauf |
| cut | Gisela Quicker |
Christmas Eve in St. Pauli is a documentary by Klaus Wildenhahn , produced by NDR and broadcast for the first time on December 20, 1968. In the social study be on Christmas Eve guests a pub in Hamburg-St. Pauli , among whom are seafarers, prostitutes, truck drivers, regulars and an amateur boxer.
action
For Elle, the landlady of the restaurant, it goes without saying that she will also be there for her customers on Christmas Eve. Nevertheless, she speaks on the phone in a quiet moment with her family, who have to experience the mess without her. The guests who know each other talk, others drink their beer or smoke in silence. Almost everyone is well dressed: suit, white shirt and tie. One of the seafarers starts the song Silent Night, Holy Night with his harmonica and a regular customer tries (as the only one) to sing to it, but keeps failing. When he then plays a sea shanty, there are a lot more guests who are now singing with confidence. They also sing when a woman selects tracks from the jukebox and lets them play. The landlady complains when someone presses the button for Udo Jürgens , otherwise she tries to keep the conversation going with her guests. As the alcohol consumption increases, the first guests begin to dance, others become more and more talkative. The scraps of conversation that are captured by the camera are mostly about trivialities. But the landlady is talking to a guest about the meaning of Christmas today. While she is of the opinion that people are only interested in gifts and that the birth of Jesus no longer plays a role, one of the well-dressed gentlemen “teaches” her that on a day like today, people also go to their restaurant come to spend Christmas Eve here.
The camera “catches” a couple who are intensely occupied with themselves. Shortly afterwards, the landlady calls the woman by name and consoles her that by next Christmas her husband will be safely back out of " jail ". Jutta is noticeably sadder and lets Elle stroke her hair. The cameraman keeps Jutta in the picture for the next few minutes, although at first you can't see her face, only the side silhouette of the head. She continues to look sad and sad.
Two police officers quietly enter the restaurant and ask one of the guests to come with them. Who called the officers and what discrepancies there were remains somewhat unclear. Comments from other guests indicate that he was unable to foot the bill and claims to have been robbed. Another, heavily drunk, guest picks up on this and goes on about forbidden gambling. Another comes out as a pimp and Gunnar, Elle's helper, tries to "seduce" the landlady. Sitting on her lap, he forces her to give her a little kiss.
The first guests pay for their drinks late in the evening and leave the restaurant. A short time later, she announced to the others that it was time to finish. Politely but decisively, she asks the men to leave and then locks the door of the pub.
background
Director Klaus Wildenhahn and his cameraman Hans-Joachim Theuerkauf spent almost ten hours among the guests of the pub on Christmas Eve 1967 to accompany the guests during their stay. You get the impression: "There are a few shabby, lonely people sitting in a pub on Christmas Eve, some temporarily, others all the time."
Reviews
Ludwig Metzger wrote for medienkorrespondenz.de : “Why is this a dishonest film? Because it only shows half the truth. It is not true that these people just sit there. You are being forced to sit there. Anyone who does not or cannot fulfill the bourgeois authoritarian norm that prescribes very specific behavior on Christmas Eve has no other choice. That is not the background, but the reason for the behavior of those people who are sitting in the pub on St. Pauli. There is no trace of this in Wildenhahn's film. His dimly beautiful, guaranteed documentary pictures turn the Hamburg Christmas Eve pub into a zoo, in which there are some unusual people to marvel at: amateur boxers, prostitutes, sailors, cardsharps, one was called Tigerhans and one even had a hump. "
filmdienst.de came to the verdict: "Conversations, gestures, coming and going: a cinematic balance sheet without sentimentality."
Web links
- Christmas Eve at St. Pauli in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Christmas Eve in St. Pauli on filmportal.de
- Klaus Wildenhahn: Christmas Eve in St. Pauli at medienkorrespondenz.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ludwig Metzger: Klaus Wildenhahn: Christmas Eve on St. Pauli at medienkorrespondenz.de, accessed on December 26, 2019.
- ^ Film review at filmdienst.de, accessed on December 26, 2019.