Queen Luise (1957)

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Movie
Original title Queen Luise
Country of production Federal Republic of Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1957
length 105 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Wolfgang Liebeneiner
script Georg Hurdalek
production Utz Utermann
music Franz Grothe
camera Werner Krien
cut Elisabeth Neumann
occupation

Queen Luise. Love and Sorrow of a Queen is a German film drama from 1957 directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner . The main roles were played by Ruth Leuwerik in the title role and Dieter Borsche as her husband, King Friedrich Wilhelm and Bernhard Wicki as Tsar Alexander.

action

Queen Luise of Prussia celebrates her 30th birthday in 1806 at Paretz Castle with her closest family members. As a special gift, she received his latest work, a waltz dedicated to her, from her cousin Prince Louis Ferdinand, who is not only an enthusiastic officer but also a talented composer. On the fringes of the birthday celebrations, Luise's husband, King Friedrich Wilhelm, worries about which he also talks to Luise's father. Prussia stands between Napoleon and Tsar Alexander - both France and Russia want to win the king on their side. The king, however, would like to stay out of everything and postpones a decision.

Shortly afterwards, a big court ball takes place in the Charlottenburg Palace. France's Foreign Minister Talleyrand demands from the king an alliance between Prussia and Napoleon against Russia. Grand Duke Constantine, the tsar's brother, was also present as an uninvited guest and asked Friedrich Wilhelm to take the side of Russia and against France. The Prussian king doesn't know what to do and later runs through the storm-lashed night. After his return he seeks the advice of the only person he trusts unconditionally, his wife Luise. He speaks of abdication in order not to have to make a decision that he dislikes. Luise advises him to meet with Tsar Alexander. You meet in Memel and Luise is very impressed by the charming ruler. The negotiations, however, are progressing slowly. Through a ruse by Constantine, an alliance with Russia is agreed. Napoleon's reaction followed immediately, his armies marched against Prussia. Friedrich Wilhelm hesitates to give the order to mobilize . Luise hears Louis Ferdinand calling the king a coward and, in a nocturnal conversation, urges the man she loves to make a decision. In the morning the mobilization is signed to the drum roll.

After the double battle at Jena and Auerstedt , in which the Prussian army was defeated, Tsar Alexander quickly came to an agreement with Napoleon, the loser was Prussia. Napoleon's peace terms are devastating to the country. Minister Hardenberg asks the Queen to meet Napoleon in Tilsit , she alone would be able to negotiate better terms. Luise, who feels complicit in advising Friedrich Wilhelm to ally with Alexander, takes on the humiliation of confronting Napoleon alone as the defeated. When the latter, surprised by her regal demeanor, her cleverness and her warmth of heart, agrees to make concessions, Friedrich Wilhelm enters the room, whereupon Napoleon breaks off the conversation with Luise without result.

When the Queen, who was in Memel with her children, returns to Berlin, which has meanwhile been occupied by the French, she is already terminally ill. She waves to her people one last time, and then retires to her beloved Paretz Palace with Friedrich Wilhelm and the children. She doesn't have much time left and when, in the hour of her death, her confidante, Countess Voss, stammered that the whole country would cry, she still shows strength and replies: “You shouldn't cry - you should learn!” No country ever has mourned so much for his queen.

Historical background

Queen Luise of Prussia, oil painting by Josef Maria Grassi from 1802

Luise, Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1776–1810), was the wife of King Friedrich Wilhelm III. (1770–1840), who belonged to the noble house of the Hohenzollern , Queen of Prussia. The couple had ten children. Even during her lifetime, the young queen was loved and adored by her people beyond measure, which was even increased after her death. It became a symbol for the rise of Prussia and its development towards the German Empire . The widespread interpretation of the Queen's medical findings was that she died of a broken heart.

The Peace of Tilsit on July 7th and 9th 1807 ended the Fourth Coalition War (1806-1807) between Prussia and the Russian Empire on the one hand and the French Empire on the other. The peace agreement between the two countries divided Eastern Europe into a French and a Russian sphere of interest and downgraded Prussia to the status of a European middle power. Queen Luise's unsuccessful petition to Napoleon became famous , in which she urged him to mitigate the loss of territory in Prussia. The peace of Tilsit was the trigger for fundamental reforms of the state of Prussia.

Production and Background

The film was directed by the production company KG Divina GmbH & Co. produced. The company belonged to Ilse Kubaschewski , who was also the owner of the first distributor Gloria-Film GmbH & Co. Filmverleih KG . The studio recordings were made in the Bavaria Studios Geiselgasteig . The buildings for the film were designed by Rolf Zehetbauer , carried out by Gottfried Will, and the art works by Herbert Strabel . Herbert Ploberger was responsible for the costumes . Gerhard Krüger assisted chief cameraman Werner Krien .

The film, shot in 1956, premiered on February 15, 1957 at the World Games in Hanover .

Ruth Leuwerik said in an interview about this film: “Strangely enough, I always seem to have the greatest success with those substances that I initially hesitate about. Because I did not take over my next film Queen Luise immediately either, rather my decision to do so only matured in a Berlin clinic, where I finally cured the make-up poisoning (note from the previous film The Trapp Family ). "

Previous film adaptations

Wolfgang Liebeneiner's film was able to follow on from a number of earlier Queen Luise films:

reception

Criticism and evaluation

Ernst Bohlius from Film-Echo in Wiesbaden came to the conclusion in his review of March 16, 1957 that “theme and cast” would offer “all the prerequisites for an audience success” and spoke of a “humanly touching and at the same time highly political Interesting film portrait of the unfortunate Prussian queen Luise and her time, which stands far above the usual romantic history painting. ”He went on to explain that Liebeneiner's staging was“ primarily characterized by speed, concise dialogues and tension ”. He praised Werner Krien, who "captured the colorful courtly splendor and the vastness of the East" with his color camera, as well as Franz Grothe, who "illustrated the plot musically with contemporary compositions" and Rolf Zehetbauer, who as an architect for a "milieu-fair." outer frame ”. Bohlius found that there were "definitely no better interpreters" for the casting of the main roles. "Ruth Leuwerik [is] the ideal embodiment of the unforgettable queen outwardly and equips her figure with just as much dignity, intimacy, understanding and maternal goodness as has been handed down to us through the literature and vernacular over centuries". Dieter Borsche surprised "in his more passive, but brilliantly played part as regent", Bernhard Wicki played the tsar with "charm, restrained passion and enthusiasm". There were also words of praise for René Deltgen, who "after the last cinematic glorifications" corrected the image of the French emperor "resiliently and with brief gestures". The other actors also received honorable mention.

The Lexicon of International Films criticized that the film was “historically unproductive and as a personality image; romantically and sentimentally staged in the style of a 50s magazine ”.

The historian Jonathan Schilling comes to the conclusion that Wolfgang Liebeneiner in the film "not only copied important iconographic elements of Luisen's reception [...], but developed them with allusions and detached them from militaristic moments." Although the FSK was initially critical of the film because it promotes militaristic, monarchist and nationalist tendencies, it is not a reactionary film. Rather, loved ones carefully weigh up and watch out for bold statements about the presence of the film audience. Liebeneiner bring clear pacifist statements into the film.

DVD edition

The film was released on DVD on March 28, 2013 in the series "Jewels of Film History", provider Alive

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The German film actresses: Ruth Leuwerik zauberspiegel-online.de
  2. ^ Ernst Bohlius: Queen Luise Critique in Film-Echo, Wiesbaden, March 16, 1957
  3. ^ Queen Luise at zweiausendeins.de
  4. ↑ Jonathan Schilling: Once again Prussia in the film (see under literature), p. 215.
  5. ^ Queen Luise DVD