Hermann the Cheruscan (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Hermann the Cheruscan |
| Original title | Hermann the Cheruscan Il massacro della Foresta Nera |
| Country of production | Germany Italy |
| original language |
German English Italian |
| Publishing year | 1966 |
| length | 82, 86 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Ferdinando Baldi (as Ferdy Baldwin ) |
| script | Ferdinando Baldi Aldriano Bolzoni Alessandro Ferraù Franz Josef Gottlieb (German arrangement ) |
| production | Peter Carsten |
| music |
Carlo Savina (as Charles Hanger ) |
| camera |
Riccardo Pallottini (as Lucky Satson ) |
| cut | Otello Colangeli |
| occupation | |
| |
Hermann der Cherusker is a 1965 German-Italian fictional film with Hans von Borsody in the title role , Cameron Mitchell as his opponent and Antonella Lualdi in the female lead.
action
Germania, in the year 9 AD. The Romans have invaded deep into the north of the country and plunder, pillage and enslave the inhabitants of the Germanic villages under the leadership of the general Aulus Colonna, because the required tribute was not paid. But they unexpectedly encounter serious resistance, because for the first time the Teutons strike back and free the slaves. The Teutonic Arminius, leader of the Germanic auxiliary troops of the Romans under the leadership of Varus, returns to Rome a little later at Colonna's side and is rewarded for his services with the sword of the Praetorian Guard. When a Roman officer speaks disparagingly about the Cheruscan from Germania in the presence of Colonna, Arminius realizes that the Romans despise his people as barbarians and will never treat them as equals. Thereupon he turns his back on this army and goes back to his own. Back home, Arminius meets his daughter Tusnelda, his childhood sweetheart, in the village of Segestes. Arminius tries to make it clear to the Germanic peoples that one must shake off the yoke of Roman oppression now, but his words do not initially resonate with his own people.
Only with great difficulty can he finally unite the Germanic tribes and inspire them to fight the Roman occupying army. With combative words in a fiery speech, he calls on his people to follow him and take up arms: “You were free and independent once, but you are no longer. What further are you than the servants of an empire to which you have to pay tribute? I tell you now: Rome is also vulnerable! Here, on our soil, we can defeat Rome. ”The hour of revolt against the occupiers has now struck. The activities on the northern edge of the empire did not go unnoticed in distant Rome, even by the emperor Augustus. He therefore gives Colonna, one of his best and most experienced commanders, the order to return with his troops to Germania in order to actively support the Roman governor Varus in subjugating the rebellious natives. Segestes, however, warns Colonna that Arminius wants to go into the field against the Romans and that the Cheruscan would know the route of the legions of Varus. In order to gain time to position his army and put Arminius under pressure, Colonna kidnaps the beautiful Tusnelda, the queen of hearts of his Germanic opponent, and wants to keep her in a fortress under strict guard. There is a direct confrontation between Arminius and Colonna, in which the Roman is clearly injured and taken prisoner. Out of generosity and out of ignorance that Tusnelda was arrested by Colonna's order, Arminius lets the Roman general pull out of an old bond.
The leader of the Germanic tribes now calls another meeting of his people to explain his battle plan to his commanders. In the meantime, Colonna and his people have left the Roman camp to help Varus, who is in distress. He hopes that Arminius will attack the Roman camp to free Tusnelda. That way he, Colonna, can buy time. However, an advance guard of the Teutons intercepts the Romans and destroys them. Arminius enters the camp and can take his Tusnelda in his arms. Then he marches with his German warriors in the direction of the Roman armed forces in order to seek the decision in the battle against Varus and his main army. Varus and his Roman armed forces are lured into an ambush by Arminius and destroyed in a hard man-to-man battle in a comprehensive, decisive battle , which geographically probably did not go down in the history books as the “ Battle in the Teutoburg Forest ”. At the end a report is made to the emperor in Rome. August exclaims in desperation: “Varus, Varus, give me back my legions!” This decisive defeat finally seals the end of Rome's rule over large parts of Germania.
Production notes and trivia
Hermann der Cherusker was filmed in Yugoslavia as early as 1965 for cost reasons and allegedly premiered in 1966, the location is currently unknown. Despite the inexpensive production location, this film swallowed around two million DM. Due to numerous disputes between the German and Italian film partners, the epic was not released in Germany until February 3, 1977 (premiere in Detmold), and in Italy only from May 20, 1982 shown. Parallel to this film, All'ombra delle aquile was made with largely the same staff and actors , who also re-synchronized several scenes from "Hermann the Cherusker".
Director Ferdinando Baldi chose the Anglicism "Ferdy Baldwin" for international marketing. Rudolf Nussgruber was involved in the directing without a name.
There are some differences between the German and the Italian or international version. In the German version, the focus is much more on the Germans and their struggle for freedom. There are also differences in names: while the Roman played by Cameron Mitchell is called Aulus Colonna (a fictional character), his name in Italian is Aulus Caecina, a legacy that actually existed.
In addition, major blunders happened to the leading Italians in the costuming of the Teutons. As one could read in contemporary reviews from 1977, the Teutonic warriors protected with fur hats were more reminiscent of Tatars, Don Cossacks or Kyrgyz people. The Yugoslav landscape that can be seen in the film, which is more reminiscent of a tundra, offered no possibility of identification with the actual location, the Teutoburg Forest . The Gottlieb book or cut version works out much more the 'heroic character' of the Germanic defenders, while the Italian version puts the 'heroic character' of the Roman legionaries in the foreground.
On the historical background
In the battle in the Teutoburg Forest , also known as the Varus Battle or Hermannsschlacht, three Roman legions and auxiliary troops under Publius Quinctilius Varus in northern Germania suffered a crushing defeat against a Germanic army led by Arminius in the second half of AD 9 ( in Germany mostly called "Hermann, the Cheruscan"). The battle, in which one eighth of the entire army of the Roman Empire was destroyed, ushered in the end of the Roman efforts to make the areas on the right bank of the Rhine from Germania to the Elbe into a province of the Roman Empire. Various locations in East Westphalia , North Germany and the Netherlands are believed to be the location of the battle .
Reviews and reception
“Curious circumstances: In 1965 Ferdy Baldwin shot a history strip about the battle in the Teutoburg Forest in a German-Italian co-production. Only now is it coming to the cinemas, after many "operations" have been undertaken on the colossal opus in the meantime. The title: "Hermann the Cheruscan". "
"... silly sword fight over a stick dam ..."
"... bloodthirsty, crude heroic epic ..."
"Mixture of fairy tale hour and school radio drama."
“The finished film was released in 1977 in German cinemas. There was little positive response from viewers. The lack of authenticity of the production was pointed out several times in reviews. Arminius and his warriors had to wear fur hats and live in wooden huts on the tundra, as the producers had resorted to old costumes, props and backdrops to save costs. All in all, the film was less reminiscent of the ancient epics of Hollywood than of the numerous spaghetti westerns that some members of the film crew had previously produced. "
In the lexicon of the international film it says: "Trivial mixture of battle spectacle and naive history lesson with the intention to demonstrate that the will for freedom and unity are superior to any tyranny."
literature
- Stefan Noack: "Give me my millions back!" The feature film "Hermann der Cherusker" as an example of a multinational Varus battle adaptation in the 1960s and 1970s, seminar paper, Free University of Berlin 2012.
- Frank Schlumm: Arminius in the feature film, the treatment of myth in the three German "Hermannschlacht" feature films, master's thesis, Free University Berlin 2010.
- Thomas Tode / Tom Stern: "The shadow of Varus is still going around and takes terrible revenge on Arminius' grandchildren". The depiction of the Varus Battle in the film, in: Denzer, Kurt (ed.): Finds, films, false friends. The archaeological film in the service of profit and propaganda, Kiel 2003, pp. 145–167.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Criticism on Uni-Kiel.de ( memento of the original from November 16, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Hermann the Cheruscan. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed November 13, 2015 .
Web links
- Hermann the Cherusker in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Hermann the Cherusker at filmportal.de