Liliom (1934)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Liliom |
| Original title | Liliom |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 1934 |
| length | 118 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Fritz Lang |
| script |
Robert Liebmann based on the play of the same name by Ferenc Molnár . Dialogues: Bernard Zimmer |
| production | Erich Pommer for Les Productions Fox Europa |
| music |
Franz Wachsmann Jean Lenoir wrote the song Viens gosse de gosse |
| camera | Rudolph Maté |
| occupation | |
and many others | |
Liliom is a French feature film from 1934, Fritz Lang's first production in exile. In this adaptation of the play of the same name by Ferenc Molnar play Charles Boyer (title role) and Madeleine Ozeray the leading roles.
action
Liliom works as a crier on a fairground carousel. He is as charming as he is lazy useless and a veritable rough leg. First and foremost, he wants to enjoy life to the fullest and to follow the pretty girls who are very impressed by his rough, whole-guy charm. Despite his poorly developed character, he is still very popular with his colleagues and the audience. One day Liliom gets to know the maid Julie and because of her she gives up his job, which means his existence. Julie also gives up something by turning out a good match - all just to be with Liliom. While she continues to work in a photography store and bloom in her love for him, he doesn't change. Liliom continues to live the day, drinks, is contentious and lazy as a pig.
His jealous boss, the carousel operator Madame Moscat, was fed up with Liliom's behavior and his unreliability at an early age and threw him outright. Without work or accommodation, the young couple first has to stay with Julie's aunt. One day Julie tells him that he is pregnant with her. Liliom now absolutely needs money to support herself and the small family. Madame Moscat offers him to come back and even wants to increase his salary, but he turns down this offer. Instead he gets caught up in the clutches of his crook buddy Alfred and quickly gets on the wrong track. Liliom can be persuaded to take part in a robbery followed by an assassination attempt. The attempted murder fails, and while the other rascals involved in it take their legs in hand, Liliom stabs himself - only to escape the police and to spare the mother-to-be the disgrace that he, the future head of the family, ends up in dungeon as a felon.
In heaven the eternal do-not-good now has to answer to an angel tribunal. The verdict is harsh: 16 years of purgatory await him. Liliom is dead, but people in the Prater say that one day, when his daughter is already grown, he will return to earth. When he actually appears in front of her, his daughter is horrified when she learns from him in person what a bad guy her father must have been. Liliom is, like once with his girlfriend Julie, still unable to express true and sincere feelings towards his own daughter and, when he doesn’t know what to do, beats his own flesh and blood in frustration. Again he has to answer before the heavenly judges, and the devil already excitedly begins to write his name in the book of eternal damnation. But suddenly the heavenly scribe points to something happening between Julie and her daughter. She tells her mother that the blow felt like a tender kiss. As a sign that Liliom can only show his love in this rough way, his name disappears from the table of the devil.
Production notes
The shooting of Liliom began in November 1933 and ended in early 1934. The world premiere took place on May 15, 1934 in Paris. In Austria the film was released by Fox on March 15, 1935 in the French version with German subtitles. The German first broadcast took place (only) on March 17, 1973 on NDR television .
Liliom was the first Fritz Lang film in exile and at the same time its only French production. Born in Vienna, he finally turned his back on Germany in the summer of 1933 and, like many later Hollywood residents, initially settled in Paris. Liliom brought him together again with Erich Pommer , with whom he had already created the masterpieces The Nibelungs and Metropolis in the 1920s . The equally highly respected exile Robert Liebmann was won over as a screenwriter .
René Hubert created the costumes, André Daven, René Renoux and Paul Colin were involved in the creation of the buildings.
Reviews
Fritz Lang's foreign debut was mostly only briefly discussed. Here is a small selection of criticism:
The Österreichische Film-Zeitung advertised in an announcement of its edition of March 15, 1935 on page 4: "A Fritz Lang staging full of life and striking film ideas. A colorful sequence of realistic scenes. Delicious types taken from life."
In the Lexicon of International Films you can read: An elegant and entertaining staged tragic comedy based on the play by Franz Molnar; a light-hearted counterpart to Lang's darkly romantic “The tired death”, with Antonin Artaud in the role of Liliom's guardian angel.
In the March 18, 1935 edition, the critic HTS in the New York Times summed up : “By making good use of the power of illusion inherent in the film the director has added much interest to the action, especially in the scenes representing Liliom's flight to heaven and his interview with a celestial commissioner of police who is just like the one he knew so well on earth. "
Jeffrey M. Anderson writes: “Despite its peculiar and slightly disturbing final moments, Liliom is a lovely addition to the Lang filmography. It reveals a less harsh, less paranoid filmmaker, capable of laughing and loving. The moment in which the girl says goodbye to her dying husband is arguably the most emotionally moving scene I've seen in Lang's work. "
Georges Sadoul saw in Liliom "a film that is not one of Lang's great works."
Individual evidence
- ↑ As can often be read, Rosa Valetti , who fled Germany in 1933, is said to have been among the small actors . Its role cannot currently be determined, and its participation is not secured
- ↑ a short report in the Austrian film newspaper on December 2, 1933 mentions that Lang is currently busy shooting Liliom .
- ↑ "Liliom". In: Österreichische Film-Zeitung , March 15, 1935, p. 4 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ Klaus Brüne (Red.): Lexikon des Internationale Films, Volume 5, S. 2302. Reinbek near Hamburg 1987.
- ^ Liliom in New York Times
- ↑ Translation: "By wisely using the power of illusion inherent in the film, the director has generated a lot of interest in the plot, especially those scenes that show Liliom's flight into the sky and his questioning by the heavenly police chief, who is just like the one he knew so well on earth. "
- ^ Liliom in combustiblecelluloid.com
- ^ Translation: "Despite its peculiar and slightly disturbing closing moments, Liliom is a nice addition to Lang's filmography. It shows a less tough, less paranoid filmmaker able to laugh and love. The moment when the girl says goodbye to her dying husband is probably the most touching scene that I have ever seen in Lang's oeuvre. "
- ^ Georges Sadoul: History of the cinematic art. Vienna 1957, p. 240
Web links
- Liliom in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Liliom at filmportal.de