Paulie - A chatterbox makes its way
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Paulie - A chatterbox makes its way |
| Original title | Paulie |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1998 |
| length | 91 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 0 |
| Rod | |
| Director | John Roberts |
| script | Laurie Craig |
| production |
Mark Gordon , Gary Levinsohn , Allison Lyon Segan |
| music | John Debney |
| camera | Tony Pierce-Roberts |
| cut | Bruce Cannon |
| occupation | |
| |
Paulie - A chatterbox makes his way (Original title: Paulie ) is an American children's film from 1998.
action
Mikhail "Misha" Vilyenkov, a Russian immigrant and former teacher of literature , gets a job as a cleaner in a Department of Behavioral Science. In the basement of the laboratory, he discovers a speaking black-tailed parakeet , which introduces itself to him as Paulie while feeding mangoes . Misha then tries the head of the institute, Dr. Reingold to convince that Paulie not only imitates speaking, but has the intelligence to use human language independently. Before Dr. Reingold, however, refuses to open her beak to Paulie. When Misha is alone again with the blue-green bird and confesses to him that she feels lonely and needs someone to talk to, Paulie begins to tell him his life story:
As a young bird, Paulie was given to a stuttering girl named Marie and they became inseparable playmates. When Marie's parents kept arguing about her stuttering, Paulie began teaching her to speak. However, Marie's father continued to worry because Marie had no friends and was too fixated on Paulie. To prevent her father from taking Paulie away, Marie asked the bird to fly away and come back to her later. However, Paulie was afraid of heights and did not dare to fly out the window, especially since the house cat was already lurking for him. Marie then climbed onto the windowsill and tried to show him how to fly. She fell from the window sill and could just about be caught by her father. This finally took Paulie away and Marie was heartbroken over her loss.
Paulie ended up in a New York pawnshop, where the shopkeeper Artie brought him all sorts of insults. Determined to teach the bird manners, Ivy, an elderly lady who lived in a trailer in New Jersey , bought it. She agreed to help Paulie find Marie, who had since moved to Los Angeles with her parents . Ivy and Paulie eventually made their way to California . On the way, Ivy lost control of her trailer due to her increasing visual impairment and almost crashed into a truck. On the advice of a doctor, she settled in a trailer park and Paulie decided to stay with the blind Ivy. When Ivy died, Paulie continued his journey. He overcame his fear of heights and flew over the Grand Canyon to Los Angeles.
There the female Jendaya parakeet Lupe, who, unlike Paulie, could only imitate speaking , led him to the burrito seller Ignacio. Together with Ignacio, Lupe and two other parakeets, Paulie appeared as a singing bird at a party. Benny, a young petty criminal who had heard Paulie speak at the New York pawn shop and who hoped the animal would provide a lucrative source of income, kidnapped Paulie in a mess after the police arrived. Benny had phoned them by denouncing alleged violations of the law during the celebration. Benny told Paulie that it would take money to find Marie, making Paulie his accomplice. From then on, Paulie spied on the secret numbers of bank customers and withdrew cash from the ATMs with the credit cards stolen by Benny. Benny's friend Ruby, however, wanted diamonds much more, so Paulie broke into a house through the chimney and tried to steal a valuable necklace. However, Paulie was caught and transferred from the homeowner to the Institute of Behavioral Research to Dr. Brought pure gold. He expected the speaking Paulie to create a sensation that would bring him recognition of science. However, when he wanted to introduce him to other scientists, Paulie refused to speak, as he usually did, as Dr. Reingold broke his promise to take him to Marie. Embarrassed in front of his colleagues, Dr. Reingold Paulie the wings trim so that he could no longer fly. Since then, Paulie has been lonely in the basement of the institute.
Seized by his story, Misha decides to free the bird from its chain-secured cage. With the Dr. Reingold's address, Marie's both flee - pursued by security forces - from the institute. They drive to Marie's house, but Marie is now an adult and Paulie only recognizes her when she begins to sing a song that he once sang to her. Paulie, whose feathers have grown back, flies happily to her and Misha, whom Marie asks to stay a little longer, accompanies her into the house.
background
The film was made as a co-production between DreamWorks and the Mutual Film Company. Filming took place from July 14th to October 2nd, 1997 in Toronto and California. The animal trainer Boone Narr had previously practiced the sentences and tricks for several months with 14 different pointed-tailed parakeets, who can be seen in the film as Paulie. An animatronic parakeet from Stan Winston Studios was used for dangerous scenes and recordings with complex facial expressions . For the other parakeets Lupe, Paco and Pepe that appear in the film with Paulie, another 18 birds were trained.
Paulie - A chatterbox makes its way came to US cinemas on April 17, 1998. The film started in Germany on July 23, 1998. 2001 it was released on DVD.
Reviews
For the lexicon of international films , Paulie - A Chatterbox Makes His Way "is a soulful children's film without excessive showmanship, whose sophisticated book is carried by convincing actors". Cinema found the film "heartbreakingly funny and told as light as a feather". He was “not just for children” and could please those who “ liked Flipper and a pig called Babe ”.
Lawrence van Gelder of the New York Times described Paulie - A Chatterbox makes its way as a "warm-hearted and funny family film". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, on the other hand, was not particularly fond of the film and said that children probably wouldn't like it very much either.
According to Variety's Todd McCarthy , there are “charming moments” in the film, but he lacks the “magic” it takes to captivate children and adults alike. Compared to A Pig called Babe , the film cannot keep up in terms of “inventiveness and feeling”. Apart from a small unexpected twist, the end is "predictable". Despite the “wasted potential”, the film definitely has an “emotional impact”, which is primarily due to Tony Shalhoub's “sensitive, but unsentimental performance”.
Awards
The film was awarded the Bronze Gryphon at the Italian Giffoni Film Festival in 1998. Hallie Kate Eisenberg was nominated for the YoungStar Award for Best Young Actress in a Comedy that same year . She received another nomination in 1999 for the Young Artist Award , for which the film was also nominated for Best Family Comedy. Cheech Marin and Trini Alvarado were nominated for the ALMA Award for Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively. However, they were subject to competition. The film also won the British Academy Children's Award.
The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.
German version
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Ivy | Gena Rowlands | Bettina Schön |
| Misha Vilyenkov | Tony Shalhoub | Jürgen Kluckert |
| Madame Marie de Tourvel | Cheech Marin | Manfred Lehmann |
| Dr. Pure gold | Bruce Davison | Reinhard Kuhnert |
| adult Marie Alweather | Trini Alvarado | Nana Spier |
| Benny / Paulie (voice) | Jay Mohr | Michael Pan |
| Artie | Buddy Hackett | Roland Hemmo |
| Warren Alweather | Matt Craven | Udo Schenk |
| Virgil, the caretaker | Bill Cobbs | Klaus Sunshine |
| Ruby / Lupe (voice) | Tia Texada | Martina Treger |
| Purple Alweather | Laura Harrington | Arianne Borbach |
| Gerald | Charles Parks | Michael Telloke |
Web links
- Paulie - A blabbermouth makes its way in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Paulie - A blabbermouth makes its way at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Pictures of the film on cinema.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b cf. cinema.de
- ↑ Lawrence van Gelder: Paulie (1998) . In: The New York Times , April 17, 1998.
- ↑ Paulie - A chatterbox makes his way. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ " Paulie is a [...] warm and witty family film [...]." Lawrence van Gelder: Paulie (1998) . In: The New York Times , April 17, 1998.
- ↑ “The film is aimed at children, I suppose, although I don't think they'll like Paulie all that much. I didn't. " Roger Ebert : Paulie . In: Chicago Sun-Times , April 17, 1998.
- ↑ “ Paulie has moments of minor charm but lacks the magic to fully capture the imaginations of either children or adults. […] Paulie […] if conspicuously short of [Babe's] inventiveness and emotion. [...] ending is predictable, work with an unexpected twist. [...] Despite all the unfulfilled potential, film has an elemental emotional appeal that is markedly abetted by Shalhoub's sensitive but unsentimental work. " Todd McCarthy: Review: 'Paulie' . April 13, 1998.
- ↑ Paulie - A chatterbox makes his way. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on March 2, 2017 .