Mr. Arnes Schatz (1919)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Mr. Arne's treasure |
| Original title | Mr. Arnes Pengar |
| Country of production | Sweden |
| original language | Swedish |
| Publishing year | 1919 |
| length | 122 (original) 110 (Germany) minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Mauritz Stiller |
| script | Mauritz Stiller Gustaf Molander |
| production | Charles Magnusson |
| music | Fredrik Emilson |
| camera | J. Julius |
| occupation | |
| |
Mr. Arnes Schatz is a Swedish film drama from 1919 by Mauritz Stiller based on the eponymous model by Selma Lagerlöf .
action
King John III von Sweden finds out that a rebellion is looming among his Scottish mercenaries , which is developing into a full-blown conspiracy. He then bloodily suppressed the rebellion, expelled the mercenaries and threw their leaders into dungeons. However, three of the officers - Sir John Archie, Sir Filip and Sir Donald - manage to escape. The men moved to Marstrand , a port town in the far west of Sweden and at that time under Danish rule. On the run there they come to the rectory of Mr. Arne von Solberga. Legend has it that there is a curse on Mr. Arne. His great wealth, which he possesses, he is said to have amassed during the Reformation with raids in the surrounding monasteries. That evening his wife had a terrible vision of unknown men who were already sharpening their knives to kill them all.
The following night the three Scottish officers actually break into Mr. Arne's house and massacre almost the entire family. Only the daughter of the house, Elsalill, survived. The Scottish officers steal Mr. Arne's silver treasure, thus also drawing his curse on themselves, and burn the building down after they have escaped from the rectory. When the residents of the neighborhood want to put out the fire, they find Elsalill. A fisherman takes care of her and brings her to his house in Marstrand. The three murderous Scots are also hiding in the city in the hope that they will soon be able to sail back to their old homeland in a ship.
Elsalill meets one of the three Scottish officers on site, whom she could not recognize in the darkness of the night of the murder. It's Sir John Archie. Both young people fall in love. But one day she happens to overhear a conversation between the three mercenary leaders, from which she can infer that they must be the murderers of her family. She informs the local authorities, but the killers are protected by other Scottish mercenaries who are also waiting here for a lift home. Ultimately, there is a life and death struggle. Sir Archie deeply regrets his actions and explains himself to Elsalill. Elsalill is badly wounded in the tumult of an attempt to arrest the delinquents. She dies.
The sea off Marstrand's shores is frozen over, and Archie escapes across the frozen ice to the anchored but frozen ship - carrying Elsalill's body with him. According to an old sailor tradition, however, a ship stuck in the ice will only get loose when the evil on board disappears and the iniquity is atoned for. And so the three murderers have to disembark again. Elsalill's body is brought back to the mainland by women dressed in black and gray in a devout procession. Only now does the ice break, and the open sea gives access to the sailing ship.
Production notes
Filming took place in several parts of Sweden from February 12 to May 10, 1919. The world premiere by Mr. Arnes Schatz was on September 22nd, 1919 in Stockholm . The film opened in Germany on October 28, 1921. As part of the Nordic Film Days in Lübeck , Mr. Arnes Schatz was shown again on November 6, 1983 in Germany.
The film was based on the novel of the same name by Selma Lagerlöf, written in Sweden in October 1903 . Interest in making the film was already expressed from Germany during the First World War . The Swedish production company AB Svenska Biografteatern then decided to make the film itself. At the end of 1917, the director Victor Sjöström helped establish contact between Lagerlöf and the production company. Immediately beforehand, in October 1917, Max Reinhardt's Lagerlöf model was performed as a winter ballad by Gerhart Hauptmann at the Deutsches Theater . Lagerlöf in turn translated Hauptmann's version back into Swedish ("Vinterballaden") and organized the Swedish theater premiere eleven months later in Gothenburg (end of September 1918 at Nya Teatern).
The film structures were designed and implemented by Alexander Bako and Axel Sørensen, the costumes were made by the famous Danish film architect Axel Esbensen , who was also responsible for the props.
Although initially not a great commercial success, the Swedish rental company managed to sell Mr. Arne's treasure around the globe. In the following period this large-scale production ran in Denmark, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Greece, the Soviet Union, Turkey (European part), Egypt, South Africa, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, India, Ceylon, Burma, China, Japan, Australia , New Zealand and the United States.
In 1954, co-author Molander staged a remake under the same title, which was much less well received by critics. This film was shown in Germany under Lost Love .
criticism
To this day, Mr. Arnes Schatz is considered to be one of the most important Swedish films of all time and the most important silent film in the country. Accordingly, the reviews before as well as after the Second World War rose.
Reclam's guide states: “A haunting film, undoubtedly Stiller's masterpiece. The description of the milieu creates an atmosphere and at the same time creates the background for the melancholy, bloodthirsty events, which the viraged scenes give additional accents. "
In Mauritz Stiller's biography, the film's large lexicon of people writes: “His tremendous historical epic, Mr. Arnes Schatz [...] not only marked the artistic climax of Mauritz Stiller's oeuvre, but also that of Scandinavian silent film. Some sequences in this film are considered masterful in their poetry and drama. With solemn devotion Stiller designed the famous funeral procession scene over the ice, in which the laid body of the heroine (Mary Johnson) is carried to the frozen ship, and achieved the greatest possible effect with this naturalistic, quiet and solemn arrangement. "
In “History of the Film” Stiller's film is placed in the context of Victor Sjöström's Berg-Eyvind and his wife : “ After Berg-Eyvind and his wife , Mr Arnes pengar is the second great success of the Swedish school. This film also has the story of a tragic love as its theme, only it is told in a completely different way. Stiller embedded the story of the beautiful Scottish captain Sir John Archie and the Swede Elsalill in the picture of the time of the Swedish Renaissance and thus established the social reference of his fable. [...] Stiller worked with the assembly. He conveyed the content of an event to the viewer in dynamic, tense images. [...] As with Sjöström, nature also plays a leading role with Stiller. In the first pictures, the snow creates the atmosphere of the action. In the tragic finale, the sea becomes a participant. The ship that is supposed to bring the Scots back to their homeland lies in the small port of Marstrand. But it is wedged in by ice floes. [...] When the situation is tense to the extreme because the forces of nature cannot be defeated, the news spreads in the city that the criminals want to flee. Elsalill is killed in a fight with the city guard and Sir John Archie is captured. A long procession of gray-clad women comes onto the ship to take Elsalill's body, the ice bursts and the occupied ship begins to move. The silent, ominous sea had reported too late. "
In Bucher's encyclopedia of the film you can read: “The film, which was originally supposed to be directed by Vicor Sjöström, meant for Stiller the departure from the elegant comedies which were his specialty. The plot, permeated by a tremendous fatalism, is skillfully related to the snowy landscape in which it takes place. The final procession of the black-clad figures following Elsalill's bier across the ice is particularly impressive. "
Heinrich Fraenkel's Immortal Film sums up with a look at the processional scenery: “The camera painted an unparalleled mood painting with this image from the Swedish film Mr. Arnes Schatz . The pain of this hour is shattering with the simplest of means, and you almost physically feel the infinite silence through which the funeral procession with Elsalill's bier takes its way. Mauritz Stiller made this film based on Selma Lagerlöf's story as early as 1919, and a whole generation of directors learned from it. "
The Lexicon of International Films wrote: “Based on a story by Selma Lagerlöf, Stiller (1883–1928) created a gloomy dream game between mysticism, natural belief and strict moral codes. The version of the important film, restored by the Swedish Film Institute, shows Stiller's creative talent in the best possible way. "
Remake
Gustaf Molander, who worked on the script for the film described here, staged a remake under the same title in 1954 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reclams Filmführer, by Dieter Krusche, collaboration: Jürgen Labenski. P. 70. Stuttgart 1973.
- ↑ Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 7: R - T. Robert Ryan - Lily Tomlin. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 500.
- ↑ Jerzy Toeplitz : History of the film, Volume 1 1895-1928. East Berlin 1972. p. 244.
- ↑ Bucher's Encyclopedia of Films, Verlag CJ Bucher, Lucerne and Frankfurt / M. 1977, p. 340.
- ^ Heinrich Fraenkel: Immortal Film. The great chronicle from the Laterna Magica to the sound film. Munich 1956, p. 288
- ↑ Klaus Brüne (Red.): Das Lexikon des Internationale Films, Volume 3, S. 1589, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1987