Silent night (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | silent Night |
| Original title | Silent Night |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2012 |
| length | 95 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 0 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Christian Vuissa |
| script | Christian Vuissa |
| production | Christian Vuissa |
| music | James Schafer |
| camera | Ty Arnold |
| cut | Ludwig accord |
| occupation | |
| |
Silent Night (original title: Silent Night ) is an American feature film from 2012, in which the Austrian filmmaker Christian Vuissa directed, wrote the screenplay and also produced. It premiered on BYU TV on November 22, 2012. The film deals with the life of Joseph Mohr , a Catholic priest who wrote the text for the later Silent Night song, one of the most famous Christmas carols in history, in Mariapfarr in the Lungau district of Salzburg as early as 1816. The film was released in Austrian / German cinemas on November 28, 2013.
action
The Catholic priest Joseph Mohr was called to serve in Oberndorf near Salzburg in 1818. In Oberndorf there is poverty and hopelessness due to war, floods and a newly drawn border. The young priest wants to change that. Its aim is to bring the church closer to people. His superior, Pastor Josef Kessler, shares his opinion and they both agree that the people, instead of an authoritarian church attitude, need hope above all else. In order to make the word of God more understandable to the people, they want to hold mass together with a German sermon. Mohr also meets the organist Franz Gruber, with whom he founds a church choir that is also supposed to sing in German instead of Latin.
Mohr visits the tavern in Oberndorf and befriends Maria and her friends, who have not been to church for a long time and who are considered scum in the village. He is so impressed with Maria's singing voice that he suggests giving her singing lessons. He also invites her friends to sing in the newly founded church choir. Mohr is also not too bad to play his guitar in the tavern and to sing secular songs with Maria and her friends and have fun with them. His efforts pay off when Mary and some of her friends come to church on Sundays.
Shortly after Mohr's arrival, Pastor Kessler was transferred to another parish because he had made enemies for his liberal ideas. Mohr suddenly has to do with a new manager. Pastor Georg Heinrich Nöstler takes a strictly conservative stance and knows very little what to do with Mohr's ideas. Nöstler believes that only a strong church authority can get people to obey, and forbids Mohr to invite the rabble of the city to the church, as this would contaminate the whole community like a virus. Mohr has to decide whether to pursue his vision of hope or to submit to his superior.
Mohr has made it his business to visit the poor and needy in Oberndorf and tried to alleviate their pain and worries. Among them is the single mother Klara with her seriously ill son Johannes, who is played by Henry Vuissa. Mohr tries to give Klara hope and to take care of the boy. Once he reads him a bedtime story from a poem that he wrote himself. "Silent Night! Holy Night! Everything is asleep, lonely only the sacred couple wakes up. Old boy in curly hair. Sleep in heavenly peace! ”When he finishes the poem, Johannes has already fallen asleep. Klara thanks Mohr for not condemning her because of her illegitimate child, and begins to harbor feelings for the young priest.
The male-only church choir begins its rehearsals, and some from the tavern attend. Maria accompanies her friends and spontaneously begins to sing along. At the first public performance of the church choir, Mary's friends all stay away from the church. Only Maria's best friend Anton comes along, but doesn't want to take part in the choir without her. In order to persuade him to sing along, Maria joins the male choir and begins to sing along to the fullest. The scandal of a woman in the church choir and a song sung in German stirs the mind and Pastor Nöstler soon learns of it.
Inspired by the success of the church choir, Mohr feels confirmed in his actions and would like to rehearse his own choir song for Christmas mass, which should also be sung in German. He asks the organist Franz Gruber to write the melody for the song. But Nöstler orders that from now on the choir may only sing in Latin and without the participation of a woman. Nöstler threatens Mohr with a transfer if he continues to disobey.
All of Mohr's efforts seem to be doomed to failure. Nöstler begins to hold the mass himself, without a sermon in German. Soon Maria and her friends stayed away from the Church. And after a short recovery period, Johannes falls ill again and Mohr's prayers remain unanswered. When the church organ broke shortly before Christmas, Mohr faced the decision to leave Oberndorf forever or to continue with his friend Franz Gruber.
In the end he decides for the latter and lets the choir sing the song "Silent Night" on Christmas Eve in the church and accompanies it with the guitar. Pastor Nöstler comes into the entrance area of the church during the chant and his face shows astonishment or dismay; he doesn't react any further and that ends the movie.
criticism
- “Meets all expectations. A very moving Christmas film. ”Deseret News
- “An inspiring story of faith, hope and perseverance.” The Dove Foundation
- “As sensitive and witty as the Christmas carol on which the film is based. Deserves the rating of Christmas classic. ”The Independent Critic
- “… The numerous awards the film has received at various festivals are more due to the direction of the film than to its artistic qualities. They are actually quite manageable. "
- “Shot at the original locations in Austria, the American film [...] captivates with its thoroughly researched history and atmospheric implementation. Anyone who wants to get in the mood for the [...] Christmas season with witty entertainment is well served with this film. He enchants his audience with impressively filmed images and interesting historical details. A Christmas film for the whole family, contemplative, clever and sensitive. ” Kino.de
See also
Web links
- Silent Night in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- German film distribution website
- Website for the film
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for Silent Night . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , October 2013 (PDF; test number: 141 403 K).
- ↑ Silent Night. In: Filmstarts.de. Retrieved September 1, 2017 .
- ↑ Chris Hicks: [1] . In: deseretnews.com , December 6, 2012; Retrieved October 26, 2013
- ↑ Scott Rolfe: Silent Night. In: dove.org , November 12, 2012; Retrieved October 26, 2013
- ↑ Richard Propes: Silent Night a Hymn Unto Itself. In: theindependentcritic.com , November 12, 2012; Retrieved October 26, 2013
- ↑ Silent Night - How the world's most popular Christmas carol came about. In: kino-zeit.de , accessed on July 26, 2017.
- ↑ Silent Night. In: Kino.de. Retrieved September 1, 2017 .