Kate & Leopold

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Movie
German title Kate & Leopold
Original title Kate & Leopold
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2001
length 114 minutes
Age rating FSK o. A.
Rod
Director James Mangold
script James Mangold,
Steven Rogers
production Cathy Konrad
music Rolfe Kent
camera Stuart Dryburgh
cut David Brenner
occupation

Kate & Leopold is an American romance comedy from 2001 in which two people born in different centuries meet and fall in love. They are played by Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman .

action

short version

Stuart Besser discovers the possibility of traveling back in time through a sporadic crack in time. In 1876 he is observed by Leopold, who follows him into the future. There Leopold meets the career woman Kate McKay. With his charm and manners he impresses Kate, who is disappointed by men. A romance develops between the two.

Text from the fictional history book

At the beginning of the film, shortly after returning to 2001, Stuart Besser opens a history book in which some information about Leopold can be read: Leopold is the third Duke of Albany and the inventor of the elevator. He was born on April 6, 1845 in New Framptomshire, England. He died in New York on April 23, 1920. His parents, who died in 1876, are Lord George Stuart Graves Walker Thomas Mountbatten, second Duke of Albany, and Sarah Victoria, heiress of Saxony. Leopold goes to school in Eton. He is called to New York by his uncle Millard, the second earl of Yearl, to choose a wife there. He continues his self-study in mechanical engineering and physics in New York. There he finds the woman of his dreams and continues to be inspired in his inventive spirit.

action

During a speech at the Brooklyn Bridge construction site on April 28, 1876, a strangely behaving man aroused Leopold's interest. When he tries to speak to him, he escapes in a cab .

A few hours later, Leopold's uncle gives him an ultimatum: He should choose the wealthy bride possible from among the female guests present. But Leopold does not seem ready to accept this ultimatum, since feelings of love are also important to him. During this celebration he sees the strange man again and this time he can follow him. After a chase in a cab and on horseback in the rainy night, the two climb the scaffolding of the bridge construction site and fall through the time portal into the year 2001.

Stuart Besser puts the unconscious Leopold who followed him on the couch in his room. He takes off his boots and his jacket. At the same time, Kate McKay comes home one floor below. Stuart and Kate ended a four-year relationship a month earlier. She calls him to get her organizer back from him. During this phone conversation, Stuart tells her about the time travel, but Kate doesn't believe the story. When they also talk about their broken relationship, a very depressing dialogue ensues for Kate: “You know what, Stuart? I wasted my best years on you. ”His answer:“ Were these your best? ”

Leopold wakes up the next morning. He sees Kate for the first time, who has climbed a floor over the fire escape. But Stuart warns him: “Women have changed since your time, Leopold. You have become dangerous. "

Before Stuart Leopold can adjust to life in the 21st century, his dog forces him to take him for a walk. Unfortunately, Stuart falls into the empty elevator shaft. He is taken to a hospital and later admitted to psychiatry there based on his stories.

Leopold has to explore the strange world himself. He discovers television sets, the secrets of the bathroom (toilet, shaving kit) etc. A policewoman also explains to him that dog poop needs to be removed from the streets of New York. He is particularly happy when he discovers the East River Bridge (Brooklyn Bridge) that still exists.

Kate goes to her office this morning. She is a market researcher at CRG Research. Her secretary Darci, who reads romance novels, prepares her for the day's tasks. But Kate is only interested in the information about her boss, J. J. Camden, and the promotion he might give her soon. J. J. calls her to his office and praises her work. And here she experiences the next attack on her femininity: “You don't cling to illusions. You don't let emotions guide you. You don't play pretty. ”-“ I don't? ”“ You are like a man. [...] You understand women, but you don't really belong to them. "

Back at Stuart's apartment, Leopold meets Kate's brother Charlie, an actor. When Kate returns home after visiting Stuart, who is in the hospital, she finds her brother in the upper apartment and shortly afterwards reproaches him for having invited Leopold to dinner with her. She doesn't want to have anything to do with Stuart and his eccentric friends. She still doesn't believe that Leopold comes from the past. When Leopold tells about it, she throws him out of her apartment, annoyed.

The next day, Kate was doing relaxation exercises when the fire alarm led her into Stuart's apartment. Leopold triggered the alarm by toasting bread. Leopold ends the following discussion with the statement: "... then you understand that life does not consist exclusively of money notes, but also of taste notes." Kate is impressed by his manner of expression and takes him to her advertising studio to read a text to let. Everyone is enthusiastic about Leopold and hires him for a commercial.

On the way, Kate wants to take a taxi, while Leopold would prefer a cab on the side of the road. Her handbag is snatched from her. She chases the thief through a park, but breaks off the chase after a while. At this moment Leopold rides up with the cab horse, pulls Kate onto the horse behind him, pursues and catches the thief. During the subsequent carriage ride through the park, Kate is very quiet and gradually begins to believe that Leopold actually comes from the 19th century.

Charlie takes Leopold to a pub and introduces him to his crush Patrice and his friends. Charlie tries by all means to please Patrice. But then Leopold begins to win over the women at the table with his knowledge of the Louvre and art. Charlie is jealous for taking a back seat and brings this up on the way home. But Leopold pulls a napkin with Patrice's phone number out of his pocket. He told her about Charlie's affection and now wants to help Charlie win her over. With some help from Leopold, Charlie manages to get Patrice to go on the phone the next day.

When Leopold realizes that J. J. wants to go out to dinner with Kate, he warns her of his intentions. He is worried about her because he senses that he wants more from her than just a business lunch, on the other hand, Leopold can no longer deny a certain affection for Kate. When dinner is almost over and J. J. has not mentioned a possible promotion, but only bragged in front of Kate, Leopold and Charlie appear. Leopold refutes J. J's allegations and bragging rights and accuses J. J. of wanting to use his employer relationship only to get Kate to bed. Leopold then leaves the restaurant. That evening he wrote Kate an apology letter inviting her to dinner. With the support of Charlie and Darci, Kate finally agrees.

When Kate enters the roof of the apartment building, Leopold is already waiting for her. Candles are burning, a violinist is playing, the table is set. During dinner, the two of them talk about love, and Kate is disappointed: "Maybe love is just the adult version of Santa Claus." They dance on the roof and finally kiss.

The commercial is shot two days later, and Leopold is doing a great job. Only when he tested the advertised product and found it tasted terrible, did he refuse to cooperate. In the following argument with Kate, their views differ widely: he refuses to advertise anything against his convictions, sees it as a lie. Kate, on the other hand, sees her career opportunities and her standard of living. Finally Leopold gives in. But Kate sees their relationship as a failure, although she deeply regrets it.

Stuart escapes from the psychiatry, rushes to Leopold's apartment and takes him back to the past through the portal that will soon be closed.

Kate is called to J. J's office. He promises her a promotion and makes her head of the New York office. In the evening he wants to officially announce this during a celebration. Kate's first act is to call Leopold. She wants to make up with him again. But since he is already back in the past, only the answering machine switches on. Stuart overhears the answering machine talking. Charlie walks in and sees the photos Stuart took while he was there in the 19th century. He discovers that Kate was also photographed in one of the pictures, which proves that Kate must have been in the past as well. They both go looking for her. You can find them in the former house of Leopold's uncle, where the party planned for the evening happens to take place. Charlie and Stuart convince Kate to take the leap in time and walk with them to the Brooklyn Bridge.

The project succeeds and Kate arrives at Leopold's uncle's house on April 28, 1876, just in time for Leopold to announce the name of his bride. In contrast to the first time lapse, Leopold decided, after coming back to the past, to accept his uncle's ultimatum. When he sees Kate, to the surprise of everyone present, he chooses her to be his wife. The couple stays in the 19th century.

Trivia

Leopold's full name in the book is given as follows: Leopold Alexis Elija Graves Walker Thomas Mountbatten. He himself quotes his full name in the German and English versions of the film as follows: Leopold Alexis Elija Walker Thomas Gareth Mountbatten. The name was probably changed at the instigation of the film production company to avoid confusion with the inventor of a safe elevator brake and founder of a well-known elevator manufacturing company Elisha Graves Otis . It is no coincidence that the name of Leopold's butler is also Otis. A historical person Leopold Duke of Albany actually existed - and even stayed - albeit only in 1880 - in New York; this largely ends the parallel with the film character.

Reviews

James Berardinelli wrote to Kate & Leopold that the "chemistry between the main actors was pleasantly consistent" and that the film was entertaining, but was a little too long with a length of almost two hours. Roger Ebert was of the opinion that the comedy contained some "funny" scenes and worked well because the audience loved the characters' kindness.

In the lexicon of international films , the film is praised as "enjoyable entertainment with melodramatic accents" that lives from the "perfect play of its main actor" and the "detailed equipment". In addition, the "return to inner values" is an issue.

The cinema magazine Cinema praised the "modern hectic" Meg Ryan, but called the plot "holey".

Awards

The title song Until of Sting was nominated for the Oscar nominated and won the Golden Globe Award in the category Best Original Song .

Hugh Jackman was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor .

The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Review by James Berardinelli
  2. ^ Review by Roger Ebert
  3. ↑ Kate & Leopold. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 4, 2016 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ^ Cinema