Oliver Twist (1948)

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Movie
German title Oliver Twist
Original title Oliver Twist
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Publishing year 1948
length 112 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director David Lean
script Stanley Haynes
David Lean
production Ronald Neame
music Arnold Bax
camera Guy Green
cut Jack Harris
occupation

Oliver Twist is a 1948 British film directed by David Lean based on the Charles Dickens novel of the same name . The film was number 46 of the list of best British films of the 20th century by the British Film Institute selected.

action

During a thunderstorm night, a heavily pregnant woman seeks refuge to give birth to her child. Oliver Twist is born, but his mother dies immediately after the birth in the presence of the old midwife Mrs. Thingummy. Oliver grows up under harsh circumstances in an orphanage, the church mayor Mr. Bumble and the director Mrs. Corney are heartily indifferent to the orphans. After losing a bet with the other, also hungry, children, Oliver asks for a second serving of the thin gruel . Outraged, Mr. Bumble brings the boy to the Sowerberry couple, who run a funeral home. Although Mr. Sowerberry treats him a little more friendly, but the apprentice Noah insults Oliver because of the unknown origin of his mother. This leads to an argument and after a few slaps Oliver flees to London, where he meets the young pickpocket Artful Dodger, who introduces him to the gang of the old Jew Fagin . Here he is introduced to the art of pickpocketing. Oliver is supposed to watch as Dodger steals the bag of an elderly gentleman to learn the trade. However, Oliver is mistaken for the thief and brought to justice.

A witness is able to prove Oliver's innocence and the boy is placed in the care of the friendly Mr. Brownlow, the older man who was the victim of the pickpocket. For the first time in his life, Oliver experiences love and affection from Mr. Brownlow and his housekeeper Mrs. Bedwin. But this luck soon comes to an end: while on an errand for Mr. Brownlow, Oliver meets Nancy, a young woman from the Fagins gang, and her friend, the crook Bill Sykes, an accomplice of Fagin, who forcibly bring him back to Fagin. The actually good-natured Nancy takes pity on the boy and wants to lead him back to Mr. Brownlow, who is now looking for Oliver. She manages to contact Mr. Brownlow, but her betrayal of the gang of thieves is discovered. In his anger, Sykes murders the young woman. After the dead person is discovered, Sykes is wanted as her murderer and Fagin as Oliver's kidnapper, and the contacts around her are arrested or interrogated. Mr. Brownlow finds out that Oliver is the son of his missing daughter and therefore his grandson. While fleeing from the police, Sykes is shot, Fagin arrested and Oliver comes back to Mr. Brownlow.

background

Oliver Twist was the second film adaptation of a Charles Dickens story for David Lean. As early as 1946 he filmed the novel Great Expectations with John Mills under the title Mysterious Inheritance . Both films are now classics of Dickens films.

Oswald Morris, who was nominated for an Oscar in 1968 as head cameraman of Carol Reed's musical film Oliver , was employed as camera assistant for this film adaptation.

Anti-Semitism Controversy

The portrayal of Fagin by Alec Guinness is remarkable and also controversial about this twist film. Although the film received rave reviews in England right from the start and the excellent portrayal of Guinness was widely praised, the filmmakers were confronted with accusations of anti-Semitism three years after the end of the National Socialist regime because of his character .

As producer Ronald Neame and other production contributors point out in the 2000 documentary A profile of Oliver Twist , they stuck to the original historical illustrations by Dickens illustrator George Cruikshank , which were used for the first edition. Apparently the filmmakers didn't think of this as anti-Semitic stereotypes while filming, as they were apparently surprised by the later reactions. However, even these illustrations were rated as "harsh racist caricatures" and Dickens' description of the character Fagin was classified as clichéd. And if this portrayal did not arouse any particular interest at the time of Dickens, the filmmakers, according to critics at the time, should have realized that after the death of “six million murdered Jews and the specter of genocide” it could only have been wrong “on this one to insist on historical accuracy ”.

Oswald Morris explained that he only found out later how the clichéd big nose came about, which was primarily responsible for the allegations. Stuart Freeborn's original mask irritated Lean because he found that Guinness resembled Jesus Christ with it. Freeborn, who had Jewish ancestors himself, then chose the big nose from Cruikshank's illustrations, which was ultimately agreed for the film.

The German premiere took place at the end of February 1949 in the Berlin cinema “die crank” in the British sector amid violent protests. The predominantly Jewish demonstrators continued among others. a. Throwing stones into the cinema, trying to storm the cinema, damaging the entrance area and the police used batons and fire hoses to force the crowd apart. There were at least 35 injured and three arrests. The protests were repeated the following day. This was also strengthened by an urgent request from the then Lord Mayor of Berlin, Ernst Reuter , who asked the British military authorities to withdraw the film. They refused to intervene, but the cinema operators canceled all further screenings from the third day on.

The film was initially not shown in the USA due to the allegations and only had its premiere in 1951, after scenes with Fagin were cut from the film with a total duration of twelve minutes. Lean reportedly described this cut version as "more racist than ever" as the cuts would have ruined a balanced image of Fagin. In Germany this cut version of the film came in September 1951 after the premiere in the US in the cinemas. The film was banned in Israel and Egypt , but in Egypt because of the overly friendly portrayal of Fagin.

Reviews

  • Lexicon of international film : A piece of world literature, famous as a morally critical mirror of the Victorian era, in a congenial adaptation: impressive camera work, bizarre character studies that have risen to the point of eccentricity. Mr. Fagin is superbly played by Alec Guinness.

documentation

  • A Profile of Oliver Twist (24 min.) By David Lemon and Peter Lowe, Carlton International Media, 2000

DVD release

  • Oliver Twist . Koch Media Germany 2007

Soundtrack

  • Arnold Bax : Oliver Twist. Complete Original Score . On: The Film Music of Sir Arnold Bax . Chandos, Colchester 2003, sound carrier no. CHAN 10126 - digital re-recording of the complete film music by the BBC Philharmonic under the direction of Rumon Gamba from 2002

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c A Profile of Oliver Twist (24 min.), By David Lemon and Peter Lowe, Carlton International Media, 2000
  2. ↑ a b Fagin in Berlin provokes a riot , Life from March 7, 1949, pp. 38-39, accessed on April 27, 2016
  3. ↑ a b c Stuart Freeborn in: Stuart: A face backwards, June 27, 2013 (28 min.), From the Seriously Cinematic series on BBC Radio 4, accessed April 27, 2016
  4. ↑ Oliver Twist. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used