Le Bal - The Dance Palace
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Le Bal - The Dance Palace |
| Original title | Le Bal |
| Country of production |
France Italy Algeria |
| original language | without |
| Publishing year | 1983 |
| length | 110 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Ettore Scola |
| script |
Jean-Claude Penchenat Ruggero Maccari Furio Scarpelli Ettore Scola |
| production |
Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina Giorgio Silvagni |
| music | Vladimir Cosma |
| camera | Ricardo Aronovich |
| cut | Raimondo Crociani |
| occupation | |
| |
Le Bal - Der Tanzpalast (Original title: Le Bal ) is an Italian - French - Algerian feature film from 1983 . He has no dialogue; the plot is conveyed exclusively through the actors' play.
action
The whole action takes place inside a semi-underground dance hall in Paris. It consists of a frame narrative that takes place in the present and seven flashbacks, each of which depicts a period of the 20th century. Each flashback ends with a snapshot which (as a photograph above the bar) leads to the next flashback. The same actors / dancers who represent different characters always act.
1983
An old waiter enters the restaurant, which is still closed, and makes the necessary preparations. Nine women, accompanied by the music of J'attendrai (from the can), step onto the floor one by one, then eleven men together during the song What Now My Love . The band begins to play and the company dances. While the waiter is pouring a coffee, the first flashback sets in:
1936
The Popular Front won the elections and its supporters celebrate. While the company is dancing a Valse Musette , a boastful bourgeois enters the pub with his festively dressed wife. The woman is kissed by a dancer ( dressed like Jean Gabin in Pépé le Moko ); her husband tries first to use cocaine and later to commit suicide. The dancer stops him and the couple leave the bar. Then a representative of the political right enters the bar, against which the dancers protest.
1940
Campaign in France: During an air raid, several people seek refuge in the restaurant. When the all-clear sounds, most of them go outside again; only one young couple is still eating a plate of spaghetti .
1944
The dancing society consists almost entirely of women who remember their husbands at the front. One drowns her worries in alcohol. While the radio We Gonna Hang Out the Washing on the Siegfried Line is playing (in a French version), a French collaborator and a Wehrmacht officer enter the bar. You quickly switch to the German channel with the song Lili Marleen . Since the collaborator cannot find a partner for the officer, he ends up dancing with him himself. Suddenly the peace bells ring and the officer takes flight. The Second World War ended in France.
1945
Society celebrates the end of the war with the men who have returned home. The former collaborator is pushed around in a circle until he can escape. The scene suddenly becomes serious again, like an invalid with only one leg, but he too joins the dancers.
1946
American culture is moving in: while the Glenn Miller hit In the Mood is being played, the waiter tries the new Coca-Cola and society tries the new swing - both of which are still difficult. The former collaborator drags two GIs into the bar; one of them has a trumpet and plays la vie en rose . The collaborator sells the dancers secretly on the black market.
1956
While a Mexican combo is playing, the company first dances samba , then tango . A group of youngsters enters the bar; they dance rock 'n' roll . The Algerian War is raging in Africa ; a stocky Frenchman takes an Algerian dancer to the toilet, where he beats him up. The commissioner who then appears (reminiscent of Jean Gabin as Commissioner Maigret) wrongly arrests the bleeding North African.
1968
During the 1968 movement , demonstrators flee to the unlit dance hall after a street battle, where they dance to Michelle of the Beatles .
1983
Again in the present the company stops dancing; everyone gradually leaves the restaurant. The waiter shakes a short-sighted lady awake who thinks she has finally been asked to dance. She realizes her mistake and goes home too. The film ends when the lights are switched off.
background
For Le Bal, director Ettore Scola adapted a play from the Théâtre du Campagnol by Jean-Claude Penchenat , which premiered in 1981. The film's actors are largely composed of members of the Théâtre du Campagnol. The director himself said:
“My films from Nous nous sommes tant aimés to La Terrasse are more theater pieces than films. But at Le Bal I combined three topics that interest me: time, loneliness and personal history. This then results in the official story. "
Reviews
"The touching and analytical film shows by means of an incredibly precise image and body language how much both the individual and social forms of communication have changed while the basic needs remain the same."
Awards
At the 1984 Academy Awards , the film was nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The film was awarded the César in the categories of best film , best director and best film music ; he was also nominated for Best Cinematography . At the Berlinale Ettore Scola was honored with the Silver Bear for Best Director .
Web links
- Le Bal - The dance palace in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Le Bal - The dance palace in the dictionary of international film
- Le Bal - The dance palace at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Interview with the director (French) (PDF; 76 kB)
- Le Bal - The Dance Palace. In: Zelluloid.de. Archived from the original on January 22, 2016 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. dieterwunderlich.de
- ^ "Mes films, de Nous nous sommes tant aimés à la Terrasse, sont plus 'théâtre' que 'cinéma', mais surtout parce que, dans le Bal, j'ai trouvé les trois thèmes qui me hantent: le temps, la solitude et l'histoire individuelle qui nourrit l'Histoire officielle. “ L'historique du film ( Memento of the original of June 18, 2013 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. (PDF; 76 kB) at cinemaparlant.com (French), p. 2, accessed on January 8, 2012.
- ↑ Le Bal - The Dance Palace. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed September 15, 2018 .
- ↑ cf. archiv.berlinale.de ( Memento of the original from November 15, 2011 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.
