Heart of the world

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
Original title Heart of the world
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1952
length 113 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Harald Braun
script Herbert Witt , Harald Braun
production NDF , Munich
(Harald Braun)
music Werner Eisbrenner
camera Richard fear
cut Claus from Boro
occupation

and Else Ehser , Rolf Moebius , Hans Quest , Claire Reigbert , Hansi Wendler , Fritz Hube , Alfred Pongratz

Herz der Welt is a German film biography by Harald Braun from 1952. The focus of the action is the Austrian pacifist , peace researcher and first Nobel Peace Prize winner Bertha von Suttner , played by Hilde Krahl .

action

During a train journey from Berlin to Vienna in 1914, the aged Bertha von Suttner heard of renewed tension in the Balkans and the expected visit of the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo . She reminisces about her life: How the young Countess Kinsky von Wchinitz and Tettau became Bertha von Suttner and finally the Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1905 after marrying the author and convinced pacifist Arthur von Suttner .

As a good Bohemian home, the young aristocrat earns her living as an educator at a young age. In the Suttner's house, she met Arthur, who was seven years her junior and the youngest son of the head of the family, and finally fell in love. To stop this liaison, Arthur's mother dismisses Bertha and places him in Paris with a Swedish chemist named Alfred Nobel . This encounter will be a decisive experience for both of them. Although not unsympathetic, Bertha Countess Kinsky quickly became concerned about where Nobel's groundbreaking invention, dynamite , could lead. Unlike the Swede, she sees the extremely effective explosives as great dangers to peace among people. A little later Bertha returns to Arthur and they both secretly get married.

Bertha and Arthur von Suttner share a common interest beyond love: the fight for peace. His experience of working as a reporter on the Russo-Turkish War in 1877 allowed him to develop a pacifist attitude. After his wife surrendered to the fine arts and studied music and languages, the will soon awoke in her to fight for a more peaceful world. Bertha von Suttner works as a correspondent and publishes her groundbreaking novel Die Waffen Nieder! and in 1891 founded the "Austrian Society of Friends of Peace". In the internationally active arms dealer Sir Basil Zaharoff , whom she met several times, she found an adversary that was as intelligent as it was cold. Although her pacifist work culminated in 1905 when she received the Nobel Peace Prize - an award that inspired Alfred Nobel to win - she repeatedly had to deal with setbacks. On the eve of the First World War , she dies with a hopeful smile on her face.

Production notes

The shooting took place from October 1951 to January 1952 in the studio of Bavaria Film in Munich-Geiselgasteig as well as in Munich and Berlin. The premiere was on February 29, 1952 in Hanover. On May 1, 1967, Herz der Welt was broadcast for the first time on television (on ARD ).

Hermann Warm and Robert Herlth designed the film structures, which were carried out by Bruno Monden . The costumes come from the hand of Herbert Ploberger . Georg Richter was production manager.

Awards

  • The FBL awarded the film the title valuable.
  • Director Braun received the David O.Selznick Prize for International Understanding for his production .
  • Director Harald Braun received the Silver Grotius Medal in 1952 for the book and design.
  • Dieter Borsche received the Bambi for his acting performance in 1952 .
  • Heart of the World was nominated for the Grand Prix of the Cannes Film Festival in the spring of 1952 .
  • The film was recommended as the best film of the month (March 1952) by the Evangelical Film Guild.

criticism

In its issue 9 of February 27, 1952, Der Spiegel discussed the film in detail: “Even with 'Heart of the World', Harald Braun was unable to suppress his addiction to philosophical clarification. He moves the 'Friedensbertha' into a dramatically effective, historically not guaranteed figure and conflict triangle with the dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel (Mathias Wieman) and the gun czar Basil Zaharoff (Werner Hinz). He gives Hilde Krahl the opportunity to prove her skills in breadth and intensity over fifty years of Suttner's life, her greatest chance since the 'postmaster'. This time, Harald Braun did not make the mistake of the 'Falling Star' of demonstrating his ideas through constructed film personalities, but has looked for a personality in Suttner who can represent his ideas in the film in a credible and unassailable way. So he is content with describing the transformation of the noble Fraulein von Kimsky into a peace fighter in six episodes over five decades. She lived in a time when pacifism still seemed to have at least a startling meaning. The decisive question, however, is left to the audience: whether “Herz der Welt” strengthens or weakens the anti-defensive will of the West German masses in the end. Because Bertha von Suttner, b. Countess von Kimsky, dies - in reality and in the film - abandoned, smiled at and powerless on the eve of the catastrophe she wanted to prevent, on the eve of the First World War. "

The lexicon of the international film judged: "Characterized by humanitarian ethos, Harald Braun's film is particularly persuasive through the acting achievements of Hilde Krahl and Werner Hinz."

Kay Wenigers The large personal dictionary of the film called the film an "ethical-moralizing film biography about the life of the peace fighter Bertha von Suttner."

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Alfred Bauer : German feature film Almanach. Volume 2: 1946-1955 , pp. 264 f.
  2. ↑ PEACE: Right now . In: Der Spiegel . No. 9 , 1952 ( online ).
  3. ↑ Klaus Brüne (Red.): Lexicon of International Films. Volume 3, p. 1594. Reinbek near Hamburg 1987.
  4. ↑ 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 1: A - C. Erik Aaes - Jack Carson. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 533.

Web links