Fate (1942)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | fate |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1942 |
| length | 87 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Géza from Bolváry |
| script | Gerhard Menzel |
| production | Wien-Film GmbH (Vienna) Production group Fritz Podehl |
| music | Anton Profes |
| camera | Hans Schneeberger |
| cut | Arnfried Heyne |
| occupation | |
| |
Schicksal is a German fiction film by the director Géza von Bolváry from 1942 in which Heinrich George played the leading role. In 1945 the Allied military authorities banned the film from showing in Germany.
action
Konstantin Melnik, leader of the Macedonian Irredenta in Bulgaria and ruling Prince of Pirim, rebelled against the Neuilly Treaty , signed in 1919 , with which the Bulgarian government wants to cede Macedonia. Soldiers then storm Prokop Castle, where the prince is staying, and take him and his confidants prisoner. His castellan Stephan, who initially played with the prince's two children, is also taken prisoner. He pretends to be his own children. Since the prince refuses to die the soldier's death, the young lieutenant Kosta Wasileff decides to execute him and his fellow soldiers; Years before, Prince Melnik had his brother Kostas executed. The prince's executioner is said to be one of the twelve confidants, who is then promised safe conduct. Prince Melnik appoints Stephan to be his executioner to save his two and four year old children. Stephan should be like a father to them, but raise their son Dimo to be the avenger of the father. After a long hesitation, Stephan agrees.
With the subtitle “Right or wrong / God was silent about it / for 17 years”, the film moves on to the second part. Dimo and his sister Dimka are now 21 and 19 years old, respectively. Dimo has just passed his physics course and wants to become a surgeon , Dimka plans her life at the side of her father. Stephan works hard as a waiter in two different bars in Sofia and endures the humiliation of the guests in order to enable the two children to have a simple but good life. To them and his colleagues, he pretended to be a father and a widower from the start.
However, the past catches up with him. Mirko, a former supporter of the prince, reminds Stephan of the oath that Dimo should avenge his father. After the overthrow of the prince, an upstart received his goods and is now trying to legitimize this act by marrying Dimka. Mirko succeeds not only in driving the man living under a false name, but also in taking away the illegally acquired goods. Dimo and Dimka are now the owners and are therefore rich, but Stephan cannot bring himself to confess the truth to both of them about their origins. At a market, Dimo and Dimka meet Kosta Wasileff, who has only just returned home after 17 years. He in turn recognizes both of them as Stephen's children, but does not reveal himself to them. Kosta becomes a good friend of Dimo in the following weeks, and he and Dimka become lovers. On the day of the engagement, Kosta Stephan is introduced, who recognizes him immediately and passes out. In a private conversation that follows, Stephan explains the origins of the children and confesses that Dimo was supposed to take revenge on him, but that he did not have the heart to raise the boy to be an avenger.
Kosta refuses to leave the country and never see Dimka again, and advises Stephan to leave everything as it is now. However, he went to Kosta that same night and shot him. Then he tells Dimo and Dimka the whole truth. In court he was sentenced to eight years in prison, but after a pardon from the king was released after two years. He goes to Prokop Castle, where both children now live. Dimka dresses in black and is ill; Dimo has given up his career as a doctor. Although Stephan approaches them as a servant, they take him back into their midst with the exclamation “You are our father!”.
Production, timing and criticism
The shooting of Destiny began in 1941, with the film having the working title Jovan and Jovana . The scenes in and around Prokop Castle were shot “at the castle in Kufstein , and we had a few quiet nights there - without an air raid alarm.” The film premiered in March 1942. The film is set in Bulgaria and in the opinion of the scriptwriter it was a document of "loyalty to men". Contemporary reviews saw in it connections to the Nibelungenlied , in which Rüdiger von Bechelaren is supposed to fight against the Burgundians (34th to 38th Aventure). At the same time it was emphasized: "Wherever a loyal follower sees his leader or master threatened, he dares everything to save him, even if it is his own life." These propagandistic tendencies of the film are also stated in the lexicon of international film , fate as Melodrama impressively played by Heinrich George with the Nazi thesis that personal feelings have to take precedence over political duty ”. Heinrich Georges Spiel also “blurs the parable, puts it under a glaze of sentiment.” Fate also becomes an example of the kitsch in Nazi films, which can also be used for propaganda purposes:
“Kitsch, which glorifies life, obviously only has a short and weak effect on the feeling. Kitsch in connection with death and sacrifice, on the other hand, seems to be the key stimulus for a certain variety of extreme political mobilization. "
See also
Web links
- Fate in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Fate at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Erich M. Berger, Sabine Noack-Haley: Heinrich George in the film of his time . German Society for Film Documentation, Wiesbaden-Breckenheim 1975, p. 111.
- ↑ Will Quadflieg: We always play. Memories . Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1976, p. 113.
- ↑ Cf. III: Mass and Power: Yesterday and Today (1938), Fate (1942) . No. 038. Filmarchiv Austria. Filmarchiv Austria Verlag, Vienna 2006, p. 12.
- ↑ Hackbarth: From the man loyalty . In: Filmwelt , No. 25/26, June 25, 1941, p. 634.
- ^ Klaus Brüne (ed.): Lexicon of international films . Volume 7. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1990, p. 3259.
- ↑ III: Mass and Power: Yesterday and Today (1938), Fate (1942) . No. 038. Filmarchiv Austria. Filmarchiv Austria publishing house, Vienna 2006, p. 14.
- ↑ Saul Friedländer: Kitsch and Death. The reflection of Nazism . Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1999, p. 16.