Luther - A film of the German Reformation
Luther - A Film of the German Reformation is a German historical film by Hans Kyser from 1927 and thus one of the first Luther films . The silent film emphasizes Luther as a fighter for the gospel and, with the portrayal of the reformer as the “German hero of Protestantism ”, corresponds to the zeitgeist of the time. The film with the star cast is the only directorial work by the screenwriter Hans Kyser.
action
The film begins with Martin Luther's law degree. Some fictional scenes from Luther's youth can also be seen. Luther attended a small village school and the students turned away from the strict teacher and towards the mild and cheerful Luther. He plays his stringed instrument for the little ones and they listen to his music. The village school teacher also listens and is happy about the variety in everyday life. But there are also dark days in Martin Luther's life. In a duel, a friend of his is stabbed to death with a sword. Luther is shaken and disturbed.
This is followed by Luther's well-known thunderstorm experience. Luther swears that if he survived the thunderstorm, he would go to the monastery. Here he devotes himself excessively to monastic life. He fasts and scourges himself to the point of absolute exhaustion. Father Staupitz is worried about the young monk. He makes him read the Bible. Martin diligently begins his Bible study and one day he discovers that God is not an angry judge. His fasting and self-flagellation was the wrong way because God will show mercy.
Martin Luther, meanwhile a doctor of theology in Wittenberg, learns that Johann Tetzel sells letters of indulgence to the believers. Luther therefore proposes 95 theses against this indulgence practice at the castle church in Wittenberg. But the higher clergy reacted and Luther finally had to answer to the emperor at the Reichstag in Worms. However, Luther stands firm and does not revoke. After the Reichstag, Luther wants to travel back to Wittenberg, but on his way home he is attacked and kidnapped to the Wartburg . There he is safe from the access of the emperor and the pope. This is where he begins his translation of the Bible .
The film ends with the iconoclasts in Wittenberg and Luther's return to the city.
background
The film was commissioned by the "Luther Film Monument. Central office for the creation of a Luther film ”. Financed by donations, it was shot in the UFA Studios , Berlin . The production company Cob Film also took over the distribution of the film.
At the unofficial Nuremberg premiere of the film on December 17, 1927, according to the censorship documents, there was “cause for serious disputes between representatives of the Catholic and Protestant religious denominations”. After complaints from the Catholic Church, the film received some censorship restrictions. After being censored several times , the film was finally released. The actual premiere took place under the title Luther on February 16, 1928 in Berlin's UFA-Palast am Zoo and the film was censored again.
The silent film Luther is preserved as an archive copy at the German Film Institute in Wiesbaden and was released on DVD (but not by the German Film Institute). The premiere music by Wolfgang Zeller was found in the Frankfurt Film Museum . An analog restoration and reconstruction was carried out by the film archive of the Federal Archives and presented on January 14, 2017 in Berlin in the Passionskirche (Kreuzberg) with a setting by Stephan von Bothmer .
Contemporary criticism
The reception in contemporary media can be seen in the example of Leo Hirsch's review in the Berliner Tageblatt on February 19, 1928. Hirsch writes: Life in and around Luther is made visible in a legend made of pictures, in a religious review; But the revue is stronger, more honest than the religious and unfortunately also than the historical, the moral, the social of the film. The focus is on the film character Luther, the idea of the Reformation is almost arbitrarily suppressed. The result is a feeling of discomfort, even when it comes to the good pictures.
Martin Luther is portrayed as a German savior and a struggling revolutionary. But everything against which the historical Luther rebels is only shown covertly. The worldliness of the papists, who "sucked the people up", appears in wonderful pictures, the plight of the people often as a carnival hustle and bustle with amusing indulgence. While the indulgence trade was only an impetus, at most the cause of Luther's revolt, it appears here as the cause, and that is, even in conjunction with a vision and even for a review, an inconclusive motivation.
In the midst of more or less good Catholics, Luther shows himself to be the better Catholic. He moves to Worms and comes home, declared on guard and ban, not without often mentioning his German and “the” German program in titles. [Note: These titles were reduced by the production company after public criticism.] In these titles, his protest is almost more against immigration than the unholiness of a holy church. To the people's need he replies: I give you the Bible in German. The peasant war is shown only as a wild iconoclasm, unleashed by Karlstadt and calmed down by Luther with a sermon. With the beginning of the Peasant War, the film ends and blurs into symbolism where Luther's real tragedy begins. But the film as a picture review is still excellent. Hans Kyser wrote and shot it with UJ Krafft. On the rolling tape, Eugen Klöpfer remains cautious and insistent as Martin Luther, while all the good and bad greats of the era, played by countless best Berlin actors, pass by in seconds. Their masks are wonderful, only Tiedtke, Lettinger, Elsa Wagner, Pavanelli, Kraussneck and Vallentin were allowed to play.
In the revue, the director does not have to contrast, tighten or let play, as in an epic or dramatic film, but rather to combine beautiful images. And these pictures are beautiful and very artfully composed. Fortunately, although the film is “historical”, the woodcut style has been avoided and instead robust, rich paintings that are a feast for the eyes.
Web links
- Luther - A film of the German Reformation in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- EKD - Evangelical Church in Germany - Martin Luther in the film
- Silent Film Concerts - Luther
Individual evidence
- ^ Esther P. Wipfler: Martin Luther in Mition Pictures , Göttingen 2011, p. 92
- ↑ Filmportal //www.filmportal.de/person/hans-kyser_1f72f18f1c7a4297a775b8ad8f87c30d
- ↑ see Berliner Tageblatt No. 85 of February 19, 1928, p. 9 supplement "Lichtspiel-Rundschau"; also: Minutes of the Film-Oberprüfstelle (censorship document), Berlin March 22, 1928
- ↑ Minutes of the Film-Oberprüfstelle (censorship document), Berlin March 22, 1928 // http://www.filmportal.de/sites/default/files/Luther_O.00204_1928.pdf
- ↑ Berliner Tageblatt No. 85 of February 19, 1928, p. 9 supplement "Lichtspiel-Rundschau"