Freckles (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Freckles |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1968 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 (later reduced to 12) |
| Rod | |
| Director | Helmut Förnbacher |
| script |
Martin Roda-Becher Helmut Förnbacher Charly Niessen based on a true story |
| production |
Peter Hellstern Martin Hellstern for Rinco Film (Munich), United Pictures (Rome) |
| music | Charly Niessen |
| camera | Igor Luther |
| cut |
Clara Fabry Helga Borsche |
| occupation | |
and in small roles: Schaggi Streuli , Margrit Rainer , Ruedi Walter , Hansi Waldherr , Sal Borgese , Paul Bühlmann , Mäni Weber , René Besson , Michael Arco , Trudi Roth . | |
Freckles is a German-Italian crime film from 1968 by and with Helmut Förnbacher .
action
Germany 1934. A row of mannequins stand in the middle of a southern German forest, where two men, Waldemar Velte and Kurt Sandweg from Wuppertal, practice shooting exercises with their repeating rifles . One of them cynically calls the bullet holes in the faces and bodies "freckles". This is the start of an unusual career for two brutal criminals in the early days of National Socialism . As free spirits, she is drawn away from this increasingly narrow, regulated country. You want to emigrate to India to start a new life there. As prison escapes, the police are already looking for them; their only chance to get out of Germany is through the procurement of escape money. As a result, they raid a bank, killing bystanders.
Velte and Sandweg manage to leave Germany, but fleeing south they only get as far as Basel . Here they get to know the young record seller Monika in a department store. One of the two criminals, Velte, falls in love with the inexperienced girl and buys her a tango record every day. One day the money from the bank robbery runs out and more must be procured. The two men fall back into their old behavior and start targeting banks again. Also there: the gangster bride Brigitte. Two police officers are killed in the attack on the Wever Bank in Basel, and the subsequent chase kills almost three other police officers. Finally, Velte and Sandweg, betrayed by Monika, are surrounded by the police. Aware of their hopelessness, the two men shoot each other.
Production notes
Freckles was filmed in Germany and Switzerland (including Basel and Muttenz ). The film passed the FSK exam on September 23, 1968. The German premiere took place on October 9, 1968 in Munich . In co-producing Italy, the crime thriller started on April 10, 1969 under the title I gangsters dalla faccia pulita .
The buildings were designed by Guy Sheppard, the costumes by Brigitte Lange. Supporting actor René Besson also served as production manager, while co-author Martin Roda-Becher served as Förnbacher's assistant director. Willy Schuler was in charge of production and Ernst Steinlechner was in charge of production.
For the 77-year-old veteran actor Willy Birgel , Freckles was the farewell performance in the movie. In his film, director Förnbacher, who was born in Switzerland, gave several well-deserved acting veterans from his homeland, including Schaggi Streuli , Margrit Rainer and Ruedi Walter , the opportunity to step in front of the camera again.
The film was made as a result of the huge international success of the Hollywood production Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and was also based on the real events surrounding the two gangsters Velte and Sandweg in the early / mid-1930s.
The real name of the Swiss record seller who sealed the end of the crime duo was Dorly Schupp.
Reviews
“For ten years, the Basel actor Helmut Förnbacher, 33, searched for producers for a subject that had preoccupied him since school - in vain. Only now did he get the chance to bring the case of the German Nazi refugees and robbery murderers Velte and Sandweg to the screen - as an imitation: 'This time it was enough to say, I'm making a Bonnie and Clyde- style film , and the thing was running. ' Förnbacher's thing, one of the most uninhibited re-creations that cinema knows, pedantically follows the model - with bank robberies, car thefts and many deaths and cross-country races to the sound of banjo in vintage cars through sunny landscapes. The director, screenwriter and actor has even hired a Bonnie: the slender German-Roman Giorgia Moll. She shares the tub with him in the bathroom and, with her average bust size, ensures the only deviation from the scheme: Instead of plausible motivation for murder, Förnbacher brings plenty of undressing sex into his crime scene, which is also impaired by the careless use of extreme focal lengths and angles. "
"A film adaptation of a criminal case from 1934 (...) Skilfully crafted directorial debut of the Basel actor Förnbacher and his 23-year-old author Becher."
“A young German film that, following on from the“ Bonnie and Clyde ”success, tries to develop its story with unconventionally playful means, but clearly fails to capture the temporal-social causes and conditions. Therefore also of no importance for adults. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ Freckles on kultur-muttenz.ch
- ↑ Freckles. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 473/1968
Web links
- Freckles in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Freckles at filmportal.de