Lord of Life and Death (1955)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Lord of life and death |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1955 |
| length | 98 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Victor Vicas |
| script |
Frédéric Grendel Victor Vicas |
| production | Inter West Film GmbH, Berlin |
| music | Hans-Martin Majewski |
| camera | Göran Strindberg |
| cut | Ira Oberberg |
| occupation | |
| |
Herr über Leben und Tod is a German feature film by Victor Vicas from 1955 based on motifs from the novel of the same name by Carl Zuckmayer from 1938.
action
Having just arrived in the small fishing village of St. Querque in Brittany, Professor Bertram gets out of his car and looks at a hearse that only a few people are following. Among them is Barbara Bertram, his wife. With due distance he joins the funeral procession. On the way to the cemetery, he remembers the story of their marriage.
It all started when Georg Bertram saved Barbara's life after an accident. A great love emerged from this meeting, which ended in marriage. But already on the honeymoon he is separated from her by the tasks of his medical profession. In the following time she became more and more lonely. The child she will be born will be born disabled and there is no prospect that the condition will change. Barbara is very disappointed in her husband because of her being alone. One night she surprises Georg how he wants to relieve the child from his torments with an injection. Barbara joins them and can just save her child from the injection. In her eyes Professor Bertram is a murderer and she separates from him.
In the small town of St. Querque, the doctor Dr. Daniel Karentis is open to your problems. His attitude towards the child's disability is also completely different. But even he can no longer save the child and it dies. Daniel's attitude towards the medical profession and also his care for the child lead Barbara to the decision to separate completely from her husband and to spend the rest of life with Karentis.
When she returns home to Georg, she finds a completely different man. He confesses to her that he cannot live without her and the child. She hides the death of the child and her love for Daniel, but she cannot leave Georg, that has now become clear to her. She goes back to Karentis to gain clarity. Only Barbara comes back alive from a joint swimming excursion at sea. After her lover's funeral, Georg accompanies her to his car and they drive towards a new life.
production
Lord of life and death is a black and white film that was made in the CCC film studio in Berlin-Spandau. The outdoor shots were shot in Berlin and Brittany . Hans Ledersteger created the buildings.
The film premiered on January 4, 1955 in the EM-Theater in Stuttgart.
Awards
- 1955: German Film Award (film ribbon in silver for Göran Strindberg, best camera work)
criticism
The lexicon of international film describes the film as a successful staging, especially in terms of photography and music composition, excellent melodrama based on Zuckmayer's novella, which ultimately remains unsatisfactory in terms of the psychological and ethical motivation of the conflicts.
Web links
- Master of life and death in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Lord of life and death at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ^ Alfred Bauer: German feature film Almanach. Volume 2: 1946-1955 , pp. 517 f.
- ↑ Lord of life and death. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .