Memed, my hawk
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Memed, my hawk |
| Original title | Memed, My Hawk |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1984 |
| length | 110 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Peter Ustinov |
| script | Peter Ustinov |
| production | Peter Ustinov Fuad Kavur |
| music | Manos Hadjidakis |
| camera | Freddie Francis |
| cut | Peter Honess |
| occupation | |
| |
Memed, My Falcon is a Yugoslav-British film from 1984 directed, scripted and starred by Peter Ustinov . It is a free adaptation of the novel Memed mein Falke by Yaşar Kemal from 1955. The alternative title is The Lion and the Hawk .
content
Turkey , 1923: The young farmer Memed loves the young Hatche, who is supposed to marry the unattractive and constantly eating nephew of the governor and large landowner Abdi Aga. Memed and Hatche flee to the mountains together, they both spend the night together. When Abdi Aga, his men and Hatches father catch up with them, Memed shoots the nephew Abdi Agas, whom he believes to be the governor himself. Since Hatche flees from him to her father, Memed joins the brigands who live in the mountains.
Abdi Aga has it established in court that it was not Memed but Hatche who murdered his nephew. She is awaiting trial in prison and shares the cell with Memed's mother. Meanwhile, Memed goes on raids with the brigands led by Mad Durdu. Durdu forces his victims to completely undress and then to flee in order to humiliate them further. When the group robbed the rich carpet dealer Kerimoglu and who is already undressing at Mad Durdu's orders, Memed intervenes. The group splits into Mad Durdu and his men and Memed and his two loyal followers, Sergeant Rejeb and Jabbar. Mad Durdu announces eternal enmity and emasculation to Memed, should they ever meet in the mountains. When Mad Durdu's men are encircled by the army, Memed comes to their aid - 5000 lira have already been promised on his head. In an exchange of fire, Rejeb is wounded and Mad Durdu is killed.
Memed returns to his village only to find that his mother is no longer there. Abdi Aga has also disappeared and is hiding in an unknown place for fear for his life. Memed and his two companions track him down and set his house on fire. Abdi Aga can only barely save himself, but is believed by Memed to be dead. Memed's ally Rejeb dies of an injury worsened by the arson attack. Memed separates from his second ally Jabbar to free Hatche on his own.
Abdi Aga is hoping for help from the landowner Ali Safa, who has already written to Ankara about the incursions of the brigands on his property - but the government, he fears, will pardon the brigands rather than persecute them. At Abdi Aga's request, Ali Safa has Hatche and Memed's mother transferred to another prison. During the prison transport, Memed manages to free both women. Hatche is pregnant by Memed.
The Interior Ministry issues an amnesty for all brigands who want to surrender. The group previously led by Mad Durdu also surrenders. When their new leader is arrested, however, they realize that the amnesty is really a trap and flee to the mountains. Memed initially also wants to surrender in order to enable Hatche and the unborn child a carefree future. He is warned by Sergeant Asim, who was supposed to disarm and register the brigands, but has turned against his superior. Everything just serves the purpose of arresting Memed. Sergeant Asim joins Memed and tells him that Abdi Aga has returned to his house. Both get into Abdi Aga's house, where Memed shoots the governor. Ali Safa, who was visiting Abdi Aga, is satisfied with his death, as he can now acquire the five villages from his property. Memed returns with Hatche to his village, where he announces to the residents that he is free from Abdi Aga's tyranny.
production
Memed, my falcon was the last film directed by Peter Ustinov. He worked with Denis Quilley , among others , with whom he had already stood in front of the camera in the film The Evil Under the Sun. During the filming of Memed, mein Falke , the sponsors got out of the production, so that Peter Ustinov had to raise the production costs from his own financial means. After shooting it took him seven years to pay off the debts of the production.
The film ran in 1984 for a few days at Minema in the London borough of Knightsbridge . A later premiere gala took place at the ABC on Shaftesbury Avenue in London, the film was a failure at the box office.
Reviews
The lexicon of international films described Memed, my falcon as a “lengthy drama based on a novella by Yaşar Kemal with Peter Ustinov as the violent Turkish landowner.” Peter Ustinov valued the German version of the film more than the original version: “The The German version was excellent, simply because everything was dubbed and every role was spoken by Germans, creating a consistency that the film never had with us. ”Actor Denis Quilley rated the film as“ flawed and unsuccessful ”.
Web links
- Memed, My Hawk in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ John Miller: Peter Ustinov - The gift of laughter. His life story . Updated and supplemented edition. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2005, p. 255.
- ↑ Memed, my falcon. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 14, 2018 .
- ^ A b John Miller: Peter Ustinov - The gift of laughter. His life story . Updated and supplemented edition. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2005, p. 254.