Helga - About the development of human life
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Helga - About the development of human life |
| Country of production | BR Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1967 |
| length | 77 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Erich F. Bender |
| script | Erich F. Bender |
| production | RINCO-FILM, Munich |
| music | Karl Barthel |
| camera | Fritz Baader , Klaus Werner |
| occupation | |
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| chronology | |
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Helga - Vom Werden des Menschen Leben (Alternative title: Helga ) is an educational film that was shot and distributed in 1967 at the instigation of Health Minister Käte Strobel . The main actors were Ruth Gassmann and Eberhard Mondry , directed by Erich F. Bender .
action
The sexually inexperienced and unenlightened Helga wants to get married. A gynecologist explains to her about sexual intercourse and birth control. Soon Helga is pregnant and attends a course for expectant mothers, where she is informed in detail about the upcoming birth. The birth itself is shown in great detail in the film. Soon afterwards, Helga is a happy mother who gives birth to three more children.
effect
The film, shot with the support of the Federal Center for Health Education , contains numerous graphics, animations and anatomical models. The FSK saw it as an “information film about the sexual education of young people and the instruction of expectant mothers” and classified it not as a feature film but as a documentary film . Only the scene in which Helga can be seen with her legs spread before the birth of the child had to be cut until the child's head could be seen. On the other hand, there was even one scene in which Helga played with her bare breast in front of a mirror, since in the context of the film she only stimulated the production of breast milk .
Completely unexpectedly, Helga was a huge success with almost five million moviegoers in Germany in one year and around 40 million viewers worldwide. This can be explained by the sensational effect after the previous decades of tabooing sexuality in films and other areas of life outside of the close couple relationship. In the cinema program preview , Helga was noticed by an unusually large amount of bare skin at this point , and the production was also announced by a speaker as “the film you have always been waiting for”.
Despite the great success, there was a mixed response: In addition to supporters who saw the film as a means of promoting a healthy family life in the sense of its initiators ( FAZ ), there was also bitter criticism that dismissed the film as superficial trash ( SZ ).
The film is given an important role in triggering the sex wave . Jürgen Kniep summed up in his book Keine Jugendfreigabe! (2010): "Inadvertently, the auditors had shown the film industry the way out by which the strict FSK criteria could be avoided: serious scientific quality and the appearance of documentary quality."
The depiction of the birth process made many viewers swoon, which led to the German Red Cross being present at the demonstrations.
Reviews
“In the game plot rather naive, but otherwise thoroughly serious, even if its informational value is rather limited, especially because the sexual-ethical area is excluded. The film was the first of its kind. The birth process is also shown in close-up and became a media event at the time. "
“The burning current topic of education on a medical basis was factually played down and embarrassed personally colored. The mixture is unpleasant and cannot be recommended with a clear conscience. A good nonfiction book did a better job. An insufficient contribution to the publicly necessary discussion. "
Award
The film received the golden screen in 1968 . The Minister of Health received the award.
Sequels
Two sequels were produced about Helga - Vom Werden des Menschen Leben : In 1968 the film Helga and Michael was made by the same director, and in 1969 Helga and the Men - The Sexual Revolution by director Roland Cämmerer .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jürgen Kniep: No youth approval! , P. 229
- ↑ 40 years ago: Founding of the Federal Center for Health Education Article on wdr.de
- ↑ Helga. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed January 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Critique No. 426/1967, p. 540
literature
- Jürgen Kniep: “No youth approval!”. Film censorship in West Germany 1949-1990 , Wallstein Verlag Göttingen 2010 ISBN 978-3-8353-0638-7