In times of waning light (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | In times of waning light |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2017 |
| length | 101 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 0 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Matti Geschonneck |
| script |
Wolfgang Kohlhaase , Eugen Ruge |
| production |
Oliver Berben , Sarah Kirkegaard, Dieter Salzmann |
| camera | Hannes Hubach |
| cut | Dirk Gray |
| occupation | |
| |
In times of waning light is a German feature film and the film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Eugen Ruge . The cinema release was on June 1, 2017.
action
The film begins with a scene in the small Russian town of Slava in the Urals. Scenes from the bleak city life, the camera pans over the ruined remains of a prison camp from the times of Soviet Stalinism . An aerial photo shows farm workers on a truck on their way back from the potato harvest, and the title of the film is explained: "Autumn with its waning light."
Then the scene changes: We are in East Berlin in autumn 1989. Kurt Umnitzer visits his son Sascha, who has separated from his wife Melitta and son Markus, in his illegally occupied and neglected old apartment. In an odyssey through the dreary nocturnal East Berlin, you are looking for a restaurant, then you end up in a cheap bar where Kurt Sascha promises to appear for his grandfather's birthday and set up the table. Sascha promises, although he probably knows at this point that he will be in the west that day.
The film then essentially chronologically depicts the 90th birthday of Wilhelm Powileit, an honored member of the party and a staunch Stalinist. First, the private preparations in the Powileit house and his stepson Kurt Umnitzer are shown. Kurt and Wilhelm make several phone calls because Sascha is supposed to set up a big old pull-out table ("Nazi table") in the Powileitschen villa. In between, Kurt Umnitzer received a call from Gießen from Sascha, who had left the GDR the day before. Kurt then drives to his stepfather to help with the birthday preparations, while Kurt's wife Irina, Sasha's mother, gets drunk. Since Sascha does not appear, Wilhelm Powileit sets up the table himself by driving several large nails through the table top, ruining the table for everyone to see.
During the birthday party, the expected well- wishers arrive : representatives of the local SED district leadership, the godfather brigade, a pioneer group that sings a Soviet partisan song. Wilhelm Powileit met the well-wishers mostly bored to condescending, he repeatedly commented on flowers with the words "Bring the vegetables to the cemetery", a high state award with "I already have enough tin". Political discussions ensue, sometimes with increasing alcohol consumption. Wilhelm Powileit insults what he believes is too inconsistent party leadership in the GDR and above all in the Soviet Union ("the Tschows"), his son Kurt, grandson Alexander and his wife Charlotte, who he insinuates that she wants to poison him.
He tells the story of his escape from the Nazis from Germany to emigration and concludes with the conclusion "We were not prepared - and now we are not prepared again". It becomes clear that Wilhelm is marked by an incipient dementia and Charlotte suffers from his antics and stubbornness.
To Wilhelm's displeasure, but greeted by Kurt, Sascha's wife Melitta appears with Wilhelm's great-grandson Markus. When Markus tries to take a sausage from the birthday buffet, the table collapses and the buffet becomes completely unusable.
Later, the heavily drunk Irina appears. At her urging, Kurt finally announces that Sascha has fled to the West. Irina, who suffers from the loss of her son, says: "Whoever loses children loses the future."
The guests sing a Russian song with Irina's mother Nadezhda Ivanovna, although they completely misinterpret the text of the song due to their lack of language skills.
After the guests have gradually left the Powileit's house, the two old people go to sleep. Charlotte prepares tea for Wilhelm and pours drops from a medicine bottle into it before she brings the teacup into his bedroom. When she checks on him later, Wilhelm is dead, but apparently he did not drink the tea.
The film ends again in Slava. Two years later, this time in winter, Charlotte, Kurt, Sascha, Melitta, Markus, Stine Spier and Nadeshda Ivanovna are standing at the grave of Irina, who obviously died of her alcohol addiction and wanted to be buried in her homeland.
Differences from the book
The film focuses on just one day, Wilhelm Powileit's 90th birthday. The scenes from the 1950s to 70s that appear in the book are not shown, but do not appear at all or only appear in the stories and dialogues of the protagonists, e. B. the scene in the winter garden between Charlotte Powileit and Stine Spier or Kurt's memories of the Stalinist camp. In addition to Wilhelm Powileit, the most important character in the film is therefore Kurt Umnitzer, while the book is told alternately from the perspective of different family members. The post-reunification period up to the 2000s is no longer a theme in the film, hence neither Sascha's cancer nor Kurt's dementia and Markus' growing up. Sascha's girlfriend Catrin, with whom he leaves the GDR in the book, does not appear in the film.
background
The film tells - like the book - the story of the destruction of a family as a symbol of the decline of socialism in the GDR against the background of the close amalgamation of personal and political.
criticism
The film was received differently by the critics, writes Die Zeit : “There are not so many films that credibly portray the East with its rigidity, dreaminess, hopes, drinking pleasure and quiet humor. This is definitely one of them. "
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , on the other hand, judged : “What can be called literary about Ruge's novel, film adaptation has driven him out. What remains is a game of chamber and woe that is no longer irritating. 'Have we spoiled everything?' Is the last sentence of the film. Not everything, but too much. "
Awards
Bruno Ganz was nominated for the best male leading role at the German Film Award 2017 for his portrayal of Wilhelm Powileit .
Web links
- Official website
- In times of diminishing light at the Internet Movie Database (English)
- In times of waning light in the online film database
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for In times of waning light . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 167446 / K).
- ↑ Adam Soboczynski: "In Times of Waning Light": A Day in Autumn '89 . In: The time . No. 23/2017 ( online ).
- ↑ Andreas Platthaus: Dinner for Whole or The Ninetieth Birthday. In: FAZ.net . May 31, 2017, accessed October 13, 2018 .
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from June 28, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
