Martin Roumagnac
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Martin Roumagnac |
| Original title | Martin Roumagnac |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 1946 |
| length | 115, 103 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | George Lacombe |
| script | George Lacombe Pierre Véry |
| production | PE charms |
| music | Marcel Mirouze |
| camera | Roger Hubert |
| cut | Germaine Arthur |
| occupation | |
| |
Martin Roumagnac is a 1946 French drama film directed by George Lacombe and starring Marlene Dietrich and Jean Gabin . The story is based on the novel of the same name (1935) by Pierre René Wolf.
_(Cropped).png)
action
Somewhere in the French provinces. This is where the building contractor Martin Roumagnac, a simple, sturdy and a little rough and rough guy, lives with his sister in a simple barrack. The former bricklayer, who diligently built up his own company, lives in this simple dwelling as long as the villa he is currently building on his building site has not yet been completed. One day, downright “sinful, cosmopolitan” flair enters the rural petty bourgeoisie when the sophisticated widow Blanche Ferrand arrives. Her recently deceased husband had made a small fortune in the seed and grain trade. Madame Ferrand is very calculating, in the retired diplomat Consul Laubry she has already spied out her possible next husband. She just has to wait until his terminally ill wife is finally different. In the meantime, Blanche plans to have fun with one or the other lover. Blanche Ferrand, who came to Australia via Paris, is the nightmare of all wives, because as long as she is present, they can no longer be sure of the loyalty of their husbands. And Blanche finds numerous applicants for her favor here in town.
One evening, when Blanche finally wants to experience something exciting in this sleepy town, she goes to a boxing match and sits next to Martin, for whom such a clearly structured sport is just the thing. Before long, there is Martin, the absolute alternative to the femme fatale Blanche, totally fascinated by the seductive newcomer. Martin is soon completely under her spell, and both begin a passionate affair, despite strong differences in personality. Roumagnac even gives her his recently completed villa. While Martin is enjoying his love for Blanche, Blanche does not want to let go of her grandiose plans and continues to marry the rich consul, a connection that would restore her once and for all. Blanche's old uncle supports this goal in life and drives Blanche, who is gradually beginning to develop feelings for Martin Roumagnac, to accept a marriage promise from Laubry. Martin Roumagnac can now only meet his lover in secret in a not exactly magnificent garden pavilion near the grandiose villa to prevent his liaison with Blanche from becoming public. In order to meet Blanche as often as possible, he even put Monsieur Laubry in his ready-to-move villa.
The consul feels passionately drawn to Blanche's lascivious charisma, but he also sees the differences in class between herself and her. Their common origins, which become even more evident through dealing with Martin, are obvious. Out of this arrogance and social arrogance, Laubry Blanche makes it clear that he still wants to marry her, but first demands that she break with Roumagnac, for whom Laubry only expresses contempt. Blanche is also under pressure from the other side. Martin, who has brought himself to the brink of financial ruin by building the magnificent property, makes violent scenes of jealousy for the expensive Blanche because of her unexplained relationship with Laubry. The two so dissimilar lovers break up. With his arrogant manner towards Roumagnac, the diplomat also pours fuel on the fire. When Laubry's wife dies, Blanche, to the horror of her parasite uncle, surprisingly refuses the marriage proposal of the now widowed consul. She even verbally attacks Laubry for his cold arrogance towards Roumagnac and accuses him of wanting to give her the corpse of his deceased wife as a "wedding present". Disgusted, Laubry turns away from Blanche as well as Blanche from him. Blanche, torn by the emotions swirling around in her, only wants to flee above all else: from Laubry, from Martin and from the narrow-mindedness of this small town. She plans to return to Paris to get away from it all and start over.
Martin Roumagnac learns that Blanche is preparing to leave and incorrectly assumes that she now wants to finally marry Consul Laubry. There is a heated argument. Since Blanche proudly does not admit to Martin that she will not marry Laubry for his sake and that she does not plan a future with him, Martin is mad. Ultimately, it comes to a catastrophe: In the course of the argument, which is marked by raging jealousy, Martin puts his hands around Blanche's neck and strangles her. As if in a trance, he leaves the villa and does not notice that in the agony of death, fire has spread from the fireplace into the room and finally the whole house. The villa that has just been completed is in flames. Martin Roumagnac goes to his sister, who promises to remove all traces of his murder on Blanche and to get him an alibi. To do this, the local postman is manipulated with a simple trick. Still, Roumagnac is arrested and charged with murder. But since there is no evidence of his guilt, he can pull his neck out of the noose and is acquitted. During the trial, Martin Roumagnac learns from Uncle Blanches (who, by the way, is not actually her uncle, but a former lover), who appears as a witness, that she was telling the truth when she claimed that she no longer wanted to marry Laubry. Martin has to realize that he killed his great, passionate love for nothing. Without any external emotion and petrified deep inside, Martin returns to his workmates, who extensively celebrate his return. But Roumagnac feels as if he is dead and retreats into his dark room. As he looks out the window, Martin recognizes a former admirer of Blanches, who has long been in love with her. The young man sneaks around the construction workers' barracks, pistol in hand. Roumagnac suspects that the guy thinks he is guilty of murder and is seeking retribution. Martin, who is ready to accept an atonement for his outrage, turns on the room lights to provide a clearly visible target. The hoped-for shot is fired, ending Martin Roumagnac's pathetic existence.
Production notes
Martin Roumagnac is the only film in which the lovers at the time and at the same time Hollywood and France superstars, Gabin and Dietrich, appear together in front of the camera. The shooting took place from May 9th to August 26th, 1946. Martin Roumagnac premiered on October 4, 1946 at the Colisée Paris. In Germany, the film ran in Baden-Baden in December 1946 . The German TV premiere was on August 25, 2005 on arte .
Marc Le Pelletier du Lucien Pinoteau took over the production management. The film structures are by Georges Wakhévitch and the Swiss Robert Furrer , the costumes by Marlene Dietrich by Jean Dessès .
Reviews
In Germany, the film received a lot of journalistic attention, as it was the first Dietrich production to open in this country after the war. The following publications were dedicated to Martin Roumagnac in the western zones : Illustrierte Film-Bühne, Munich, No. 263 (1947), Filmpost Programm, Frankfurt, No. 229 (1947), IFA, Baden-Baden, No. 8 (1947), Die Neue Filmwoche, Baden-Baden, 2nd volume, No. 4, page 16, from January 1947, Der Kurier, Berlin, from June 21, 1947, Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin, from July 24, 1947, Roland von Berlin, volume 5 , dated June 29, 1947, Illustrierter Film-Kurier, Vienna, No. 407 (1948) and the Katholischer Filmdienst, Düsseldorf, No. 210, dated February 8, 1949.
Also in the first issue of the mirror was Martin Roumagnac discussed. There it says: “It is, finally, a straightforward film from the latest French production. He doesn't die in the intellectual. "
The Filmdienst ruled decades later: "Gloomy drama, marked by an ethical skepticism, which is reflected especially in the milieu description. The story and the staging are more of an experienced dozen items, but the film deserves attention due to the charming play of the two main actors. "
On prisma.de you can read: "A strong love story by author and director Georges Lacombe, who uses many motifs of film noir here : the femme fatale , the opposition of town and country and the eroticism of money."
Individual evidence
- ↑ Martin Roumagnac on boxofficestory.com
- ↑ Marlene Dietrich - actress . In: CineGraph - Lexicon for German-Language Films, Lg. 21, F 7
- ↑ Der Spiegel of January 4, 1947
- ↑ Martin Roumagnac. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 31, 2019 .
- ^ Criticism on prisma.de