Kevin home alone
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Kevin home alone |
| Original title | Home Alone |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1990 |
| length | 103 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Chris Columbus |
| script | John Hughes |
| production | John Hughes |
| music | John Williams |
| camera | Julio Macat |
| cut | Raja Gosnell |
| occupation | |
| |
| chronology | |
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Successor → |
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Kevin - Home Alone (Original Title: Home Alone ) is a 1990 comedy film directed by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus . The film is about eight-year-old Kevin, who lives with his parents and four siblings in a suburb of Chicago , is forgotten at home for Christmas and defends his parents' house against two burglars. Together with his successor Kevin - Alone in New York from 1992, the film is considered the greatest success of leading actor Macaulay Culkin , who has not been able to build on this since then.
action
Eight-year-old Kevin McCallister and his big brother Buzz have an argument the day before leaving for Paris for Christmas vacation. Kevin, who feels that his family has been treated unfairly, causes a huge mess at dinner, and his plane ticket accidentally and unnoticed ends up in the trash can. Kevin is sent to sleep in the attic as a punishment . Angry, he expresses to his mother Kate that she never wants to see his family again.
A violent storm rages during the night. A falling tree damages the telephone line as well as the power line to the house, so that the alarm clock set for the day of departure does not work and the McCallisters oversleep. In the hustle and bustle, the neighbor boy who happens to be present is inadvertently counted and the supposedly complete family rushes to the airport. It is only during the flight that Kate realizes that Kevin is not even there. Meanwhile, he wakes up at home alone and finds that his family has disappeared. First of all, the joy is great because he no longer has to endure harassment from his siblings. In addition, he can practically finally do all the things that were otherwise constantly forbidden to him.
In the meantime, crooks Harry Lyme and Marv Merchants plan to rob the McCallisters' home (along with the neighboring houses). Harry had disguised himself as a policeman the night before and went to see the family, supposedly to check on their welfare. In fact, he'd just wanted to inspect the house to see if it was worth breaking in. Also, he could be sure that no one would be in the house since Kevin's father Peter had been so reckless as to tell Harry about the vacation trip.
Hardly having landed in France , Kevin's mother pulls out all the stops to get home to her son immediately. Because of the broken phone line, a policeman is supposed to look after Kevin, but he is hiding in the house because he is afraid of his neighbor Marley, about whom dark rumors are circulating. When Kevin ventures outside the next day and even goes shopping, he recognizes Harry on the way home. Harry and Marv are baffled that the boy stayed at home, but are convinced they can easily cope with an eight-year-old. Kevin can, however, prevent the two of them from entering his house thanks to self-made traps. The crooks soon find out that they were being led by the nose by a school child and agree to break into the house on Christmas Eve around nine o'clock within earshot of Kevin .
Kevin now wishes his family were back with him while making preparations to defend the house against the bad guys. When Harry and Marv want to gain access to the house at the agreed time, they are expected by Kevin: With the help of his numerous traps, he finds the burglars difficult. The two want to get back at Kevin, pursue the boy and step from one trap into the next. Meanwhile, Kevin calls the police - but he names a neighboring house as the scene of the break-in, because he wants to lure the two crooks there. They follow him too, but they don't struggle through the cellar, but instead catch him in the apartment, where the tide seems to have turned.
Then "old Marley" enters the house and puts Harry and Marv out of action with his snow shovel. The police finally arrest the bandits. The next morning, Kevin's mother arrives at home, who has had a true odyssey, and a little later the rest of the family. They do not find out what happened in their absence in the house. When asked what Kevin had been doing the whole time, Kevin replied succinctly that he was "just bored".
music
The American composer John Williams is responsible for the soundtrack for the film . In addition to the well-known main theme called Somewhere in My Memory , which occurs in fragments at the beginning and also during the film, the film music is primarily characterized by a selection of different Christmas carols and was nominated for an Oscar in 1991.
Locations
Locations of the film were u. a. the city of Winnetka , Illinois , the Chicago O'Hare International Airport and the Paris-Orly Airport .
Running gags and trivia
- A running gag in the film is the statue in front of the entrance of the house, which is rammed and knocked over by several stopping vehicles.
- Both in Kevin - Alone at Home and in the sequel Kevin - Alone in New York , the other family members see each other in their respective vacation homes. Isn't life beautiful? on television in Paris in French and the second in Miami in Spanish.
- Both parts end with someone yelling at Kevin for something wrong. In the first part, Buzz's room is trashed; in the second, he has spent $ 967.43 on room service, which his father has to pay for.
- The black and white films that Kevin watches in both parts are called Angels with Filthy Souls and, in the sequel, Angels with Even Filthier Souls . The footage was shot specifically for use as a film in the film and is said to be a reference to the 1938 film Angels with Dirty Faces .
- In both parts, Kevin winks his eyebrows when he first realizes that he is alone, and then remembers that he can do what he wants.
- The character played by Joe Pesci named Harry Lime is a reference to The Third Man (1949), in which an important character bears this name.
- Jeffrey Wiseman, who plays the part of the neighbor boy who Kevin is mistaken for in the count, auditioned for the role of Kevin.
- Robert De Niro turned down the role of Harry.
- Little Nero’s is a reference to the Little Caesars pizza chain .
- Daniel Stern agreed to have the tarantula put in his face for just one take.
- Several family members of the director Chris Columbus make brief appearances in the film: his daughter, his mother-in-law, his wife and his father-in-law.
- The film grossed around $ 476.7 million worldwide at a cost of US $ 18 million and is considered one of the most successful comedy films of all time.
synchronization
The German dubbed version was created at the Cine Adaption in Munich based on a dialogue book and directed by Renate Wolf.
criticism
Roger Ebert criticized the film's plot as being so implausible that viewers find it difficult to put themselves in the child's plight. On the other hand, Culkin's performance testifies to an extraordinary talent. Caryn James of the New York Times found the first half of the film predictable and the second hair-raising.
“The audience loved little Kevin and the adventures he was experiencing. And the tot Macaulay Culkin, now a dollar millionaire, became the most successful child star in Hollywood. Today, however, no rooster crows at him anymore. Chris Columbus' film, however, is brimming with speed, wit and ingenuity. "
“An eventful comedy with a lot of borrowings from cartoon slapstick; However, the pace and wit only come towards the end, before the inevitable family reconciliation. "
Awards
Kevin - Home Alone received Academy Award nominations for John Williams (music) and Somewhere In My Memory in 1991 . In the same year, the film was nominated for a Golden Globe in the categories of Best Actor (Macaulay Culkin) and Best Picture . Macaulay Culkin received the Young Artist Award .
Sequels
Four sequels have followed so far. Part two was again directed by Chris Columbus, part three by Raja Gosnell . Kevin - Alone Against All was produced directly for American television, with Rod Daniel directing it. While the character Kevin does not appear in part three, he is the main character again in part four. The fifth film was directed directly for television by Peter Hewitt . Here again, the character Kevin does not play a role. The 1991 film Career Opportunities gives the impression of being part of the series with its German title Kevins Cousin alone in the supermarket . In fact, there is no reference to Kevin - Home Alone .
- 1992: Kevin - Allein in New York (Home Alone 2: Lost in New York)
- 1997: Home Alone (Home Alone 3)
- 2002: Kevin - Alone Against All (Home Alone 4)
- 2012: Home Alone: The Holiday Heist
As announced in August 2019, after the takeover of Fox , Disney is said to be interested in rebooting the film series for a new, younger generation. The remake should not appear in the cinema, but on the in-house streaming service Disney + .
parody
Novel adaptation
- Morton Rhue : Kevin - home alone. A family comedy without a family . German by Eva Malsch . Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1991, 143 p., ISBN 3-404-11697-6 or ISBN 978-3-404-11697-3
Web links
- Kevin - Home Alone at the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Kevin - Home Alone at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Kevin - Home Alone at Metacritic (English)
- Kevin - Home Alone in the online movie database
- Kevin - Alone at home in the German dubbing file
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release Certificate for Kevin - Home Alone . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , October 2008 (PDF; test number: 65 080 V / DVD).
- ↑ Filming Locations for Kevin - Home Alone
- ↑ Kevin - Home Alone , in: Box Office Mojo
- ^ Kevin - Alone at home in the German dubbing index ; Retrieved October 17, 2008
- ↑ Roger Ebert : Home Alone , RogerEbert.com, Nov 16, 1990, accessed Dec 11, 2016
- ^ Caryn James : Holiday Black Comedy For Modern Children , in: The New York Times , Nov. 16, 1990, accessed Dec. 11, 2016
- ↑ Kevin - Alone at home , in: Prisma-Online
- ↑ Kevin - Home Alone in the Lexicon of International Films
- ↑ Markus Trutt: Disney makes "Kevin - Alone at Home" reboot - with a massive twist? In: film starts . August 7, 2019, accessed August 16, 2019 .