Chamber music (1915)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Chamber music |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1915 |
| length | approx. 45 (when censored in 1921) minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Franz Hofer |
| script | Franz Hofer |
| production | Max Maschke for Luna-Film, Berlin |
| music | Carl Loewe |
| occupation | |
| |
Chamber music is a German silent film melodrama from 1915 by Franz Hofer .
action
The sick old Helga Laehr sits in her armchair - at her side her great happiness, her only son Helmut, and at her feet his future son, Marion - and looks back on her life, telling the two young people. Helga spent a happy youth in her parents' castle. The happiness of childhood was suddenly destroyed when the castle burned down to the walls. At the time, she was saved by the old housekeeper, who initially placed her in the modest accommodation of the organist Cantor Brose. When he sat down at the organ and played, her heart opened up. A new world was opened to Helga, the world of music. One day, however, one of her aunts penetrated this newly created paradise, who said that Helga belonged back to life, in the city and in (elegant) society and then took her to her home. But Auntie's invitation was by no means unselfish; rather she wanted to couple Helga, the wealthy heiress, with her son. Helga, however, shows little inclination and hastily left Auntie's home when she was forced to marry her unloved relative. She returned to the organist's house and had to find out there that her father's friend, the old castle servant, had died on the same day - allegedly of a broken heart, as she is told, since she, Helga, his protégé, had probably left forever be.
In the organist's house, Helga finds her calm again. Soon she meets a young doctor, Dr. Wegener, know, and falls in love with him. The happiness of the two seems perfect when the doctor informs her that he is terminally ill and therefore impossible to enter into a connection with her. Helga did not accept this objection and fought for her love. They both eventually got married. This connection resulted in Helmut, who at Helga's feet devoutly listens to his mother's memories. As predicted, Helga's marital happiness only lasted for a short time, because her husband died two years later. As a young widow, she walked after the deceased's coffin in quiet sorrow. All your love and attention should now be devoted to her son. And she brought Helmut's love of music close, so that he completed an appropriate training and eventually became a talented cellist. He already received an ovation with his first concert. Now all three are sitting together again in the present, and the old mother asks her Helmut to have him play her love song again, which once opened her heart in the house of Cantor Brose. As a loving son, Helmut fulfills the old woman's wish and plays. In her hospital room, this chamber concert will be the last great fulfillment. Then Helga falls asleep happily ever after.
Production notes
Chamber music originated in the second half of 1914 and was premiered on March 12, 1915 during a press presentation in the Admiralstheater . The length of the three-act act was 1048 meters when it was re-censored on April 4, 1921. A youth ban has been issued. The film had ten subtitles.
For director Hofer this was his last production for Luna-Film. Carl Loewe contributed a vocal performance under the title “Die Uhr” with harmony accompaniment. The musical direction was Robert Garrison .
Reviews
“The packed house was eagerly awaiting the last film by the fertile director Franz Hofer, who created a new note with the three-act sentimental drama“ Chamber Music ”that deserves attention. Because the Loewe ballad "Die Uhr" (The Clock) is intimately fused with the living wall picture as an accompanying song with harmonium music. In this interaction of cinema, music and singing lies the main value of the lyrical and soft film novel, which is the pictorial reproduction of the story of a woman who is at the end of her life and describes her own past to young people. "
“This film, which bears the short title“ Chamber Music ”, triggers more mood than drama, but has a strong dramatic effect, delights the eye with a series of picturesque scenes and grips the mind with its simple but deeply felt story. The characters involved in the halo flows through the art of purified souls, consistently good people who are alien to the evil world. (...) The presentation is very excellent. In the mother's story, her youth is embodied by the charming Lotte Neumann, while the role of the daughter-in-law Dorrit Weixler portrays with emotional sensitivity. "
Web links
- Chamber music in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Chamber music at The German Early Cinema Database
- Chamber music at filmportal.de
Remarks
- ^ According to Gerhard Lamprechts German Silent Films 1913-1914, filmportal.de and IMDb. According to the Kinematographische Rundschau, Lotte Neumann played the young Helga