Rendezvous with Joe Black

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title Rendezvous with Joe Black
Original title Meet Joe Black
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1998
length 180 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Martin Brest
script Bo Goldman ,
Ron Osborn ,
Jeff Reno ,
Kevin Wade
production Martin Brest ,
Ronald L. Schwary
music Thomas Newman
camera Emmanuel Lubezki
cut Joe Hutshing ,
Michael Tronick
occupation
synchronization

Rendezvous with Joe Black (Original title: Meet Joe Black ) is an American film directed by Martin Brest from 1998, in which Death in Human Form ( Brad Pitt ) asks a dying billionaire ( Anthony Hopkins ) to help him Get to know life. The film opened in German cinemas on January 14, 1999.

action

A few days before his 65th birthday, major entrepreneur William "Bill" Parrish heard a strange voice after a heart attack , reminding him of imminent death. At the same time, his daughter Susan met a young man in a café who died shortly afterwards as a pedestrian in a traffic accident. However, Susan does not notice any of this.

It turns out that the voice belongs to Death, who wants to use the young man's body to dwell among people for an indefinite period of time. Parrish is to serve as his guide and is allowed to live as long as death's stay on earth remains interesting.

Death is said to live with the family, and he is introduced to relatives as Joe Black. He falls in love with Parrish's daughter Susan, who works as a doctor. Susan is with Drew, Bill's right-hand man at Parrish Communications. Drew is also on the board, as is Quince, the husband of Parrish's older daughter. A merger between "Parrish Communications" and another large company is imminent. Drew finds Parrish's behavior increasingly strange and suspects that Joe caused him to abandon the merger. Drew then arranges a secret meeting with the board of directors without Bill Parrish. After Bill has again rejected the merger, the board of directors invokes an article in the articles of association, according to which Parrish resigns as chairman on his 65th birthday and only represents. The majority of the board of directors votes in favor of removing Parrish.

An argument ensues between Joe and Parrish, who accepts his own death but fears for his daughter's life. Parrish is concerned that Joe might take Susan away after his visit is over. An old African American woman with cancer and a patient of Susan in the hospital realizes death in human form. Shortly before death takes her, she asks Joe not to take Susan with her.

Joe Black helps Parrish at his birthday party to save his company - his life's work - from being broken up. During a conference call with the board of directors, he poses as an employee of the tax authorities and confronts Drew, who intrigued to sell the company in order to enrich himself. He confesses his actions, whereupon the board of directors, who overheard everything, lets the planned sale fall, dismisses Drew and rehabilitates Parrish. Finally Joe Parrish takes Parrish with him to the afterlife, but leaves the young man's body behind. He knows nothing of his identity as Joe Black and cannot remember the events from the traffic accident to his return. Susan realized during the celebration that Joe is not the same man from the café. This way he and Susan can get to know each other all over again.

synchronization

The German dubbing was based on a dialogue book by Alexander Löwe and directed by Joachim Kerzel on behalf of Berliner Synchron .

role actor Voice actor
Young man in the cafe / Joe Black Brad Pitt Tobias Master
William "Bill" Parrish Anthony Hopkins Hartmut Reck
Dr. Susan Parrish Claire Forlani Irina von Bentheim
Drew Jake Weber Bernd Vollbrecht
Allison Parrish Marcia Gay Harden Ulrike Möckel
Quince Parrish Jeffrey Tambor Jürgen Kluckert
Helen June Squibb Christel Merian

reception

Reviews

James Berardinelli wrote on ReelViews that the film was the longest film of 1998 to date. It was particularly "tedious" and "bombastic". The chemistry between Brad Pitt and Claire Forlani is wrong.

On the other hand, the film-dienst said: “The theme from the old Hollywood comedy Death Takes a Holiday (1934) by Mitchell Leisen is transformed into a thoughtful and gentle meditation on the slow opening of people in the face of death. At the same time, the film does not shy away from leaving a lot of space for feelings and emotions. The result is a work that tries to counteract the sensationalization that has become common nowadays with quiet, often downright conventional means. Apart from Brad Pitt, who is often overwhelmed, the excellent actors are a reliable support who keep the film from succumbing to an occasionally noticeable overload of the material. "

Awards

Anthony Hopkins and Claire Forlani were nominated for the Saturn Award film; Thomas Newman was nominated for the film music for the same price.

The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.

The film was nominated for the Golden Raspberry as the worst remake or sequel .

Trivia

  • The film is a remake of Mitchell Leisen's 1934 film The Black Majesty .
  • The filming took place in New York and in Warwick Neck in the US state Rhode Island . William Parrish's luxurious home was recreated in a warehouse in Brooklyn .
  • The line of dialogue "Thank you for loving me" inspired Jon Bon Jovi to write the song of the same name, which can be found on the Bon Jovi album Crush .
  • The film was one of the few films to feature the first trailer for Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace . In fact, many viewers bought tickets for the film and then left after just watching the trailer.
  • The entrepreneur confronted with death bears the name (which is quite common in the USA) William Parrish . The last name Parrish sounds like the English verb "perish", which translates as "perish" or "to die".

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Certificate of Release for Rendezvous with Joe Black . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , July 2010 (PDF; test number: 81 271 V).
  2. ↑ German synchronous card index : Synchronous card index | Movies | Rendezvous with Joe Black. Retrieved April 7, 2020 .
  3. ↑ reelviews.net
  4. ↑ Rendezvous with Joe Black. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  5. ↑ Quotes. Internet Movie Database , accessed June 12, 2015 .
  6. ^ Jon Bon Jovi in ​​VH-1 Storytellers, September 22, 2000