Rübezahl's wedding

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Movie
Original title Rübezahl's wedding
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1916
Rod
Director Paul Wegener
script Paul Wegener
production Paul Davidson
for PAGU, Berlin
camera Mads Anton Madsen
occupation

as well as children from the Jaques-Dalcroze 's dance school in Hellerau as little elves

Rübezahl's Wedding is a German silent film from 1916 by and with Paul Wegener . With this production, Wegener began a short series of fairy tale film adaptations.

action

A classic from the world of German sagas and myths is told : the Rübezahl legend.

Rübezahl, a vigorous, rough, rumbling mountain spirit from the Giant Mountains, falls in love with a tender elf princess. But this in turn is by no means interested in the dumb guy, but rather in the filigree, young tutor who does his work in the nearby Count's Castle. And so the elf turns into a governess and starts her service in this position in the castle - all just to finally be close to her boy of heart.

Rübezahl is beside himself with anger and leaves no stone unturned to get “his” elf after all. For example, he torpedoed a count's picnic by looking over the forest with his huge skull and spitting out huge amounts of water, which gave picnickers a cold shower. And he blows like crazy, so that the old governess hat and hair flies and the little picnic party finally gets lost in the forest.

Now Rübezahl is really getting going. His giant fist descends from above on the forest inspector working in the manor, grabs the wriggling man by the sleeper and carries him high above the meadows, forests and mountains. Then the mountain spirit takes his position in order to unobtrusively approach his heart elf. Rübezahl wouldn't be Rübezahl if he weren't going to be joking around the Grafens' table. When fried pike is served, the mouse-dead fish suddenly comes alive again under Rübezahl's hand, straightens its tail and snaps at the Count's nose.

Horrified by the eerie events, the dinner party jumps up and drifts apart. Only the elf princess disguised as governess stays and holds Rübezahl. Because she also has a lot in store in her bag of tricks. As soon as the uncouth mountain spirit believes he has reached the goal of his dreams, the elf turns into a white dove and flutters away. But Rübezahl's flying skills are no iota worse than those of his queen of hearts, and so the two of them whiz over mountain and valley into the distance. Finally, the elf deliberately gives up, turns into a butterfly and lets Rübezahl catch her.

Production notes

With Rübezahl's wedding , Wegener started his film trilogy of German sagas and folk tales (1916–1918). In each of these films he took on the lead role himself.

Like the subsequent fairy tales Hans Trutz in the land of plenty and The Pied Piper , Rübezahl's wedding was produced by Paul Davidson's PAGU. Despite the youth-related theme, the film received a youth ban when it passed the censorship. On October 1, 1916, Rübezahl's wedding was premiered in Berlin's Union Palast Kurfürstendamm in front of an invited audience. Two months later it was shown across the country.

Wegener had worked on the technically demanding implementation of this material for a total of six months. The external shoots took place in July 1916 in the vicinity of Schreiberhau in the Riesengebirge , on an estate near Dresden , at a pond in the parish garden of Lausa and in the woods around Moritzburg . The studio recordings were made in the Union studio in Berlin-Tempelhof .

As in the later fairy tale films, Wegener's then wife Lyda Salmonova played the leading female role. The film structures were made by Rochus Gliese , who also assisted Wegener in directing the film. The almost 23-year-old Ernst Waldow made his film debut here. The future silhouette specialist Lotte Reiniger , just 17 years old, created the title silhouettes. It was her first significant film contact.

The school children from Hellerau , who play elves in Wegener's film, were rewarded very practically in the time of need of the First World War : Each of them received two eggs as a "fee".

Reviews

The Berlin Volks-Zeitung wrote a day after the premiere: "It was delightful images that were as open it in front of us. A magical world that has come to life. Elven dance on a moonlit forest meadow, a dance by the elf princess on flashing water, an evil magic and charming transformations. "

The Berlin Börsen-Courier read: “In any case, this film [...] was something very beautiful in the conception, implementation and scenic combination of many individual features from a pure natural fairy tale that almost faded away for us asphalt people, from the world of the mountain spirit Rübezahl. The technical artist, who is probably also called Wegener here, is on a par with the poet. All technical possibilities of art seem completely exhausted, and the pictures that have been created cannot be surpassed; they are absolutely beautiful. "

The Lichtbild-Bühne paid great attention to the film: "" Rübezahl's Wedding "proves once again that there is an art in film, an art that deserves its own independent assessment. The lively game, the reproduction of which is primarily reserved for the film, brought Wegener to high artistic development in this film of his. The elf dance and the wedding dance in the great outdoors, in the enchanting surroundings, offered pictures of incomparable beauty and make the film a living painting - except for the final scene. How artistically Wegener otherwise made the technology of film subservient to himself in his film, how beautifully he used a number of the simplest tricks to shape the whole, here the hand of the master was missing. This scene is too reminiscent of a time that we ourselves no longer think about. Regardless of this, "Rübezahl's Wedding" is a film that has been worked on with great love and care, in which not only Paul Wegener used his skills, but also the other contributors such as Lydia Salmonowa and Ernst Waldow contributed to the success of the whole thing. "

In the Berliner Tageblatt it was said: “Here the realm of the spirits and that of the people are woven together with sense and humor. The loveliness and power of the mountainous nature, populated by folk poetry since time immemorial with mild and rough figures, with elves and giants, become beautiful images and have the breath of fairy tales. Here would be a way forward ... "

The cinematographer judged: “What Wegener promised in his cleverly designed advertising lecture at the Philharmonie has certainly not been fulfilled, but nevertheless this first attempt to create lyrical images is a very interesting and valuable achievement from a theater owner's point of view. The fine humor , The excellent performance and the wonderful landscapes will be applauded everywhere, and it is perfectly understandable that large leading theaters in the West secured the Wegener film for very respectable rental rates. "

In Reclam's film guide it says on Wegener's saga and fairy tale films: “As a director, Wegener remained true to the subject area once opened. The Golem (Co-R: Henrik Galeen, 1914), Rübezahls Hochzeit (1916), The Pied Piper of Hameln (1918) and The Golem, How He Came into the World (Co-R: Carl Boese, 1920), live from the Unreality, from the world of legends and fairy tales. This is where the roots of Expressionism and - if you want - escapism of German film of the twenties lie. "

Oskar Kalbus ' Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst (Vom Werden German Filmkunst) commented on this very complex topic: “Paul Wegener first gave us' Rübezahl's Wedding '(1916), a lyrical folk picture book that made children's jubilation and happiness - even for the most blasé of big city dwellers - a present. Here too, Wegener shows new art again. New in the material and in the execution, in which all the achievements of modern direction have been used. Then came the 'Pied Piper of Hameln' with the tingling rats and mice filling all the rooms - a material that cannot be found in a more cinematic way. Wegener also went his own way with his fairy tale film 'Hans Trutz im Schlaraffenland' (1917). For the adults he dressed all kinds of wisdom in fairy tales. Here, too, Wegener is great as an actor because he never puts his person in the foreground, but always only serves the whole. "

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Berliner Volks-Zeitung of October 2, 1916
  2. ^ Berliner Börsen-Courier, edition of October 3, 1916
  3. ^ Lichtbild-Bühne, issue 40 of October 7, 1916
  4. ↑ Berliner Tageblatt of October 7, 1916
  5. ↑ Der Kinematograph, Issue 517 of November 22, 1916
  6. ↑ Reclams Filmführer, by Dieter Krusche, collaboration: Jürgen Labenski. P. 12. Stuttgart 1973.
  7. ^ Oskar Kalbus: On the becoming of German film art. 1st part: The silent film. Berlin 1935, p. 63.