Castle of Terror
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Castle of Terror |
| Original title | The Innocents |
 | |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1961 |
| length | 100 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jack Clayton |
| script |
William Archibald , Truman Capote , John Mortimer |
| production | Jack Clayton |
| music |
Georges Auric Paul Dehn |
| camera | Freddie Francis |
| cut | Jim Clark |
| occupation | |
| |
The Innocents (original title: The Innocents , reference Title: Castle of Terror ) is in black and white twisted British horror film of Jack Clayton from the year 1961 . The screenplay was written by William Archibald , Truman Capote and John Mortimer, based on the story The Turn of the Screw by Henry James and the theater adaptation The Innocents by William Archibald.
Set in 19th century England, the film tells the story of a governess who is convinced that the two children in her care are possessed by the ghosts of two deceased domestic servants.
action
England in the 19th century: Miss Giddens, the elderly daughter of a country pastor, takes up a position as governess on a country estate to watch over the upbringing of the Miles and Flora siblings. Miles returns from boarding school shortly after their arrival. Miss Giddens sees repeated ghostly apparitions, apparently the only one, of a man and woman whom the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, identifies as the former servant Quint and Miss Jessel, Miss Giddens' predecessor, who both perished. Miss Jessel was sexually subservient to Quint and drowned herself after his death, and Miles also followed Quint "like a little dog". Because of the conspiratorial demeanor of the children and Miles' precocious behavior, Miss Giddens suspects that the spirits of the deceased have gained power over the children. She insists that Flora is possessed by Miss Jessel's ghost until the girl has a hysterical attack . Miss Giddens sends Flora away with Mrs. Grose and the other servants to be alone with Miles. At Miss Giddens' urging, Miles confesses that he has been expelled from boarding school for improper conduct. He insults her and runs into the garden, where he calls Quint's name and collapses. After Miss Giddens has determined his death, she kisses him on the lips and folds her hands as if in prayer - the same image that already in the first adjustment is to see the film.
background
Director Jack Clayton worked on the first draft of the script with William Archibald, author of the play The Innocents, based on Henry James' novella The Turn of the Screw . John Mortimer rewrote the dialogue to give it a " Victorian " touch. Dissatisfied with the result, Clayton consulted Harold Pinter , who advised him not to use flashbacks in order to gain the effect . Finally, Truman Capote was engaged, who was doing research on his novel in cold blood and rewriting the script in Switzerland for the final version. Among other things, Capote had the idea of leaving open the question of whether the children are actually possessed by ghosts or whether the governess Miss Giddens is the victim of her own imagination.
The interior shots of Castle of Secrets were shot in Shepperton Studios near London , the exterior shots in Sheffield Park in Sussex .
Castle of Secrets opened in British cinemas in November 1961. For the first showing, the film received an "X" (absolute youth ban) from the British censorship authority BBFC . In 2005 the film was downgraded to “12A” (children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult). The film opened in the Federal Republic of Germany on May 25, 1962, in Austria in June 1963. It has been rated as FSK 16 to this day (2012).
Reviews
"Mr. Clayton and Miss Kerr have failed to portray the story and [Miss Giddens'] character with enough sharpness and openness to deliver a first rate horror or psychological film. But it is still of interest and sends some emphatic shivers down the spine. "
“An intelligent thriller, staged with subtle means, which conjures up the morbid atmosphere of Henry James' model in a nightmarish manner and with a virtuoso balance between the supernatural ghost story and the mad world of an exaggerated young woman. Outstanding the performance of the main actress. "
"Jack Clayton's film looks like an endearing replica of the horror films of the 1940s - a late classic of the genre."
Further films
In 1971 Michael Winner made the film The Hole in the Door with Marlon Brando and Stephanie Beacham , which tells the story behind Castle of Secrets .
For other film adaptations of James' novella see
literature
- Henry James: The rotation of the screw. Narrative. German by Ingrid Rein, with an afterword by Paul Ingendaay . Manesse-Verlag, Zurich 2010, 301 pp., ISBN 978-3-7175-2330-7 .
- William Archibald: The Innocents. Samuel French, London 2010, 90 pp., ISBN 978-0-573-61070-7 .
Web links
- The Innocents in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Innocents at Turner Classic Movies (English)
- Schloß des Schreckens on cinema.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Introduction to the film by Christopher Frayling on the DVD / Blu-ray publication The Innocents. BFI Video, Great Britain 2010, Castle of Terror, Capelight Pictures, Germany 2012.
- ↑ a b Entry on Schloß des Schreckens in the Internet Movie Database .
- ↑ Castle of Terror on the British Board of Film Classification
- ↑ a b Castle of Terror. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film Service , accessed March 20, 2012 .
- ↑ "Mr. Clayton and Miss Kerr have neglected to interpret the tale and character with sufficient incisiveness and candor to give us a first-rate horror or psychological film. But they've given us one that still has interest and sends some formidable chills down the spine. ”- Review in The New York Times, December 26, 1961, accessed March 21, 2012.
- ^ Reclam Classic Films: Descriptions and Comments , Volume 2, Reclam, Stuttgart 2006.