Morenga (film)

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Movie
Original title Morenga
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1985
length 265/112 (feature film version) minutes
Rod
Director Egon Günther
script Egon Günther, Uwe Timm
production Provobis, Berlin / TNF,  Munich / WDR ,  Cologne
music unknown
camera Gernot Roll
occupation

Morenga is a three-part German television film by Egon Günther based on the novel of the same name by Uwe Timm . The film deals with the Herero and Nama uprising from 1904 to 1907 in German South West Africa using the example of the guerrilla leader Jakobus Morenga . It was first broadcast by ARD on March 13, 17 and 20, 1985. For political reasons, the shooting in 1983/84 did not take place in Namibia as planned , but in the Republic of South Africa . There is also a heavily abridged version of the film that lasts 112 minutes.

Further technical data

action

Germany 1904. Senior veterinarian Gottschalk ( first-person narrator ) volunteers to be involved in the uprising of the Herero and Nama in the colony of German South West Africa . From Hamburg out he travels with a Woermann - steamer to Swakopmund . On the boat trip and train trip to Windhoek , Gottschalk met his future comrades, such as Lieutenant von Schwanebach, Rittmeister von Tresckow and sub-veterinarian Wenstrup, who is also professionally connected to Gottschalk.

To reach their destination, Warmbad Fortress , they have to hike 800 km on horseback through the parched landscape. They finally reach Warmbad, completely exhausted. District administrator Graf von Kageneck no longer has any illusions about the military situation. Located deep in the south of the protected area, Warmbad is constantly worried by the Morengas guerrillas .

The Nama boy James is assigned to the newcomers as bamboo . James was educated in a mission school and speaks both Nama and Afrikaans . Gottschalk and above all Wenstrup, who constantly reads Kropotkins : Mutual Help in the Animal and Human World, try to learn Nama and understand the conditions in the colony.

On behalf of the farmer Lüdemann, who runs the “Deutsch-Erde” farm, the representative of the Deutsche Landgesellschaft, Lohmann, negotiates with the captain of the Bondelswarts , Johannes Christian . Lohmann negotiates with the chief by encouraging him to a binge of drinking, during which Lohmann constantly devours sardines and vomits again after drinking alcohol in order to stay sober. Finally, the senselessly drunk Christian signs an assignment contract in favor of Lüdemann, which is extremely disadvantageous for the Bondels. Lüdemann tries to live a life like in Germany with his wife and children on “German soil”.

One day Edward Morris, Feldkornett Morengas, brings a transport with white women and children to the safe area around Warmbad and hands it over to the protection force . The purchase of land triggers the rebellion among the Bondels too; they are supported by Morenga. At a moment when Gottschalk is weakened by the heat, Jakobus steals the water bottle from him and disappears into the bushland .

Jakobus finds a job with Lüdemann. When the farmer suspects that a rebellion will break out among the Bondels, he wants to check his weapons. He meets Jakobus, who is already holding one of Lüdemann's rifles in his hand. When Lüdemann reaches for a revolver , Jakubus shoots him. Lohmann is slain by the insurgents.

Warmbad is surrounded by Morenga. Gottschalk suspects that Jakobus must have killed Lüdemann, since the autopsy of Lüdemann's corpse shows a specific firing channel that suggests a child as a shooter. The senior veterinarian begins a sexual relationship with the young Nama Katharina. Graf von Kageneck is cut off with a patrol, Morenga attacks Warmbad.

A patrol from Warmbad penetrates as far as the Oranje to learn more about the overall situation from British border guards. A battle breaks out between the protection force and Morenga. James fights on the side of the rebels.

On New Year's Eve 1905/06 Morenga attacked Warmbad; at the same time, the ammunition stocks in the fortress are blown up by sabotage . Wenstrup, whose attitude towards German warfare and colonization has become more and more critical, flees the fortress with Katharina.

Gottschalk is captured with other protection troops. Morenga explains to him that he may not win the war against the German Reich, but that he can gain advantages through negotiations. In the Morengas camp, Gottschalk also meets Jakobus, but he denies having seen him before. Captain von Koppy is now planning a large punitive expedition against the Bondels and Morenga. Morenga has informed Gottschalk that he wants to bring the rebel women and children to safety across the Orange River to South Africa. The protection force is ambushed and suffers heavy losses. It turns out that to bring Morenga assertion, women and children across the river, a stratagem was, fell for the Gottschalk.

Gottschalk is released at his own request, while reinforcements arrive from Germany. Soon 16,000 German soldiers will be operating against 250 insurgents. At Christmas 1906 a reconciliation service with Father Wandres took place in Warmbad. Ludwig von Estorff advises Colonel Berthold Deimling on how to proceed. Lothar von Trotha's extermination order is declaimed, while von Trotha listens.

Upington 1907. German protection troops negotiate with the Cape Police over joint action against Morenga. While Gottschalk is returning to Swakopmund by train, British police and military units and German protection troops circle Morenga at a water point. He falls by machine gun fire .

In Swakopmund Gottschalk meets von Tresckow again, who wants to stay in the country and colonize; the German victims should not have been in vain. A Nama choir sings the Deutschlandlied , the film fades out with the line:

Bloom in the splendor of this happiness, bloom, German fatherland!

criticism

“Of course, Egon Günther also makes use of common clichés . The heat shimmers most beautifully through the telephoto lens , and it dies most impressively on horseback in slow motion and in three-quarter time. After all, 'Morenga' is not an experimental film , it does not want to change viewing habits, but rather an image of history. And that with millions of TV viewers.

Still, it won't be easy for them. It takes more than one of a total of four and a half hours to get the tension of the three-piece suit. And then it comes to prejudices that have become cherished. Left and right. This is only preserved if Günther's film is dismissed as an ' idiotic old wives' tale' (like the alternative ' daily newspaper ') or ridiculed as a 'brazen impertinence' (like the ' world '): 'It was so bad under Kaiser Wilhelm.'

'Morenga' is a partisan film, but not an illustrated pamphlet . That is precisely why it is needed by those who still have to fight for their country. The Swapo agents, who have already seen the television game, want to bring it to Africa. Maybe, and maybe sooner than some German Southwesters can be dear to, 'Morenga' will then also be shown in Windhoek. "

- Hartmut Schulze

“'Morenga', which is not a matter of course on this subject, ultimately knows no heroes and no villains, only the banality of good and - luckily - the imperfection of evil. This alone will keep the applause for 'Morenga' within limits. The flattering legend of the clean, better colonialism of the Germans has grown dear to many, and this legend needs heroes just as badly as the other side cannot do without villains who want to recognize the early fascist form of later Hitlerite racism in German colonialism . "

- Günther Mack

Lore

  • A DVD edition of the film was released in 2013 .

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hartmut Schulze: Like wasps . In: Der Spiegel . No. 11 , 1985 ( online ).
  2. ^ Günther Mack: "Morenga" without Morenga . In: Die Zeit , No. 11/1985.