Marionettes (1915)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Puppets |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1915 |
| length | approx. 51 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Richard the Lion Leg |
| script |
Ernst Matray Richard Löwenbein |
| production | Jules Greenbaum |
| camera | Ernst Krohn |
| occupation | |
| |
Marionetten is a short, German silent film fun play from 1915 with Ernst Matray , who was also involved in the script. The director was Richard Löwenbein , who was only 21 years old .
action
A puppeteer who fell asleep after the performance of his puppet theater dreams that his protagonists, the Pulcinello, the Pierrot and the Pierette, ran away with a wallet. In his dream, the three of them have loosened their bodies and limbs and begin to lead a life of their own. You sneak out of the house and start to sniff morning air and freedom in front of the door for the first time. As if released from a chore, they jump and frolic across meadows and fields and drink their first intoxication in a restaurant. When the first evening of freedom dawns, they ask a farmer to be allowed to sleep in the hay with him. But their first human fate happens to them in their sleep: they are robbed at night in the hayloft by a thief who takes their wallet from them.
Now, the next morning, the wooden louts, who have become flesh and blood, overcome extremely human feelings: they are hungry, but cannot pay for their meal. And so the three of them steal a piece of bread from a bakery and some fruit from the field. In order to earn a little extra money, think about what you do best: hop, jump and kick in front of the gawking crowd and do a little faxing. Things seem to be turning for the better when the three are given a job at his establishment by a ringmaster. Pierette excels as a dancer, Pierrot shows his skills as a trapeze artist, and Pulcinello tries no less successfully as a juggler with burning torches. But the sworn community of the three friends is suddenly clouded when Pierette is unfaithful to them and a liaison with the dashing circus art rider begins. Pierrot, deeply saddened, falls from the trapeze into the depths, and Pulcinello, mad with heartache, first lights the door curtain with his torches, then Pierette's cloakroom, and ultimately the entire circus. The spectators flee the circus tent in horror. Rescue approaches in the form of a man who daringly throws himself on his three wards.
It's the puppeteer ... because he just woke up: everything was just a dream; the blazing fire is just a small fire that was caused by the puppeteer's candle burning down and is quickly extinguished. The man quickly rushes to his little theater to see if everything is okay with his puppets. And actually they are there: dead and wooden and mute as ever. In the face of this greatest happiness for him, he takes the three of them in and embraces them with his arms.
Production notes
Marionettes passed film censorship in August 1915 and were banned from young people. The premiere took place on August 27, 1915 in Berlin's Marble House . The length 937 meters, divided into three acts. The youth ban, which had been imposed due to a kissing scene that was considered to be “demoralizing”, the arson and the unpunished theft, was withdrawn in a censorship decision on November 9, 1921 after editing requirements were issued.
In numerous secondary sources one can read that Matray played Pierrot, but this is definitely not the case, as the contemporary reviews of 1915 show. The assertion that Adolf Wohlbrück, who played the ring director, was the later film star (then only 19 years old) is also wrong. This Wohlbrück was Adolf's father of the same name (1864-1930), who had made a name for himself as a circus clown.
criticism
“A poetic breath flows around this delicate aesthetic work of art, which is also based on a deep truth of life. (…) This film game gives the director the opportunity to create a new form of film art for the actor in a series of the loveliest, delightful scenes. Ernst Matray as Pulcinello achieves a performance that lives up to his reputation. Oskar Fodor as Pierrot gets rid of his difficult role with great skill and Katta Sterna as petite Pierette is grace itself. (...) “Marionetten” is not just a film that delights the audience, but a work that gives the art of film new recognition and Must bring admiration. "
Individual evidence
Web links
- Marionettes at The German Early Cinema Database
- Marionettes at filmportal.de
- Puppets in the Internet Movie Database (English)