The pursuit of happiness

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Movie
German title The pursuit of happiness
Original title The Pursuit of Happyness
The pursuit of happiness Logo.png
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2006
length 113 minutes
Age rating FSK 0
JMK 0
Rod
Director Gabriele Muccino
script Steve Conrad
production Todd Black ,
Jason Blumenthal,
James Lassiter,
Will Smith ,
Steve Tisch
music Andrea Guerra
camera Phedon Papamichael
cut Hughes Winborne
occupation
synchronization

The pursuit of happiness (original title The Pursuit of Happyness ) is an American autobiographical film drama by Gabriele Muccino from 2006, based on the life story of entrepreneur Chris Gardner , who was homeless for almost a year. Steven Conrad's script is based on his autobiography, which he wrote in collaboration with Quincy Troupe .

Will Smith plays a single father who tries to enable his young son Christopher (played by his real son Jaden Smith ) and himself to lead a normal life with dignity. When one day he is offered an unpaid internship with future opportunities, he takes it, although his means are limited. He is now doing everything to end this in order to be able to offer his son better future prospects.

action

Chris Gardner lives in San Francisco in the early 1980s and works as a freelance sales representative. He tries to sell new types of bone density measuring devices that allow a slightly better resolution than conventional devices. However, since these are twice as expensive as the previous ones, Gardner is not particularly successful with them. Since his wife Linda can no longer bear the financial difficulties, she leaves him with their five-year-old son Christopher. Chris brings his son back to himself, however, because he is sure, due to his indomitable will to be able to take care of him better than Linda, who can hardly cope with the burden, which she finally realizes.

Chris is now looking for a job that offers him a better perspective. He gets the chance to complete a six-month internship at an investment bank , which is unpaid but includes the possibility of a permanent position. But he is only one candidate among many, and at the end of the internship only one of them will get the permanent position. In order to secure a living for himself and his son Christopher, Chris has to work as a sales representative in addition to his internship.

When rental debts accumulate, he and his son have to leave the rented apartment. From then on, father and son live in the motel for a few months until Chris can no longer pay the rent there due to tax debts, as the tax office has withdrawn this debt from his account without asking and without warning. So he ends up on the street with his son. Although the duo are now homeless, Chris does everything in his power to both pursue his job as a sales representative and, on the other hand, successfully complete his internship. The well-being of his child is always important to him.

In the end, Chris succeeds in passing the final exam at the end of the internship so successfully that he is employed by the investment bank.

production

Production notes, background

The film was in San Francisco and Oakland ( California turned). Its production amounted to an estimated 55 million  US dollars .

It is the film adaptation of the life story of the successful stockbroker and formerly homeless Chris Gardner , which he himself wrote and published under the title The Pursuit of Happyness . The book was long on the US bestseller lists.

The title refers to the "inalienable rights" of every person to "life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness" as formulated in the United States' Declaration of Independence . The original title of the film, The Pursuit of Happyness , deliberately spelled happiness , the corresponding English word for 'bliss', as this can be seen in the wrong spelling in several scenes, for example on the wall of the day nursery that plays a role in the film .

Will Smith's son Jaden also plays his son in the film - Christopher , the son of protagonist Chris Gardner . At the end of the film, the real Chris Gardner has a cameo .

music

Varèse Sarabande released a film music album with the film music by Andrea Guerra on January 9, 2007.

No. title length
1. "Opening" 3:09
2. "Being Stupid" 1:39
3. "Running" 1:30
4th "Trouble at Home" 1:30
5. "Rubik's Cube Taxi" 1:53
6th "Park Chase" 2:29
7th "Linda Leaves" 4:02
8th. "Night at Police Station" 1:36
9. "Possibly" 1:45
10. "Where's My Shoe" 4:20
11. "To the Game / Touchdown" 1:37
12. "Locked Out" 2:20
13. "Dinosaurs" 2:40
14th "Homeless" 1:55
15th "Happyness" 3:50
16. "Welcome Chris" 3:45
Overall length: 40:00

The film also features smaller excerpts from Higher Ground and Jesus Children of America , both sung by Stevie Wonder , as well as Lord, Don't Move the Mountain by Mahalia Jackson and Doris Akers , sung by the Glide Ensemble of the Glide Memorial Church in California Listen.

Publication, success

The film opened in US cinemas on December 15, 2006 and grossed around 163 million US dollars there. In Germany, where the film opened in theaters on January 18, 2007, there were around 1.35 million viewers. In Austria the film was released under the same title as in Germany. The English working title was: Untitled Chris Gardner Project , an alternative spelling The Pursuit of Happiness .

On December 15, 2006, the film was also released in Canada, Croatia and Mexico. In 2007 it was published in Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Israel, Montevideo in Uruguay, Japan, France, Argentina, the Netherlands, Portugal, Brazil, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, Egypt, Kuwait, in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Venezuela, Hungary, Slovakia, South Africa, Greece, Thailand, Colombia, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Burkina Faso (there on the Ouagadougou Panafrican Film and Television Festival), in Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, Manila and Davao in the Philippines, in Hong Kong, in Serbia, Russia, Panama and in 2008 in China. It was also published in Lithuania, Peru, Slovenia

The film was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on May 22, 2007 with a German soundtrack on DVD.

Cast and dubbing

The German-language dubbing of the film was done at Interopa Film . The author of the dialogue book is Alexander Löwe . Dialogue director led Frank Schaff .

role actor Voice actor
Chris Gardner Will Smith Jan Odle
Christopher Gardner Jaden Smith Minh Duc Phan
Linda Gardner Thandie Newton Nana Spier
Jay Twistle Brian Howe Helmut Gauss
Martin Frohm James Karen Otto Mellies
Alan Frakesh Dan Castellaneta Bodo Wolf
Walter Ribbon Kurt Fuller Detlef Bierstedt
Mrs. Chu Takayo Fischer Mey Lan Chao
Wayne Mark Christopher Lawrence Lutz Schnell

reception

criticism

David Ansen wrote in Newsweek magazine that he respected the "tactful" way of showing homelessness. The role that Will Smith plays is rather unusual for him; Newton seems "impressive" ("she makes a powerful impression"), Jaden Christopher Syre Smith plays "natural".

James Berardinelli described the film on ReelViews as "long", "dull" and "depressed". He extends a story to two hours that can be told more efficiently in an hour.

Andrea Niederfriniger wrote on Filmreporter.de that it was a “good idea” to build a real father-son relationship into the film. For dramaturgical reasons, changes in the real story would be accepted. Not least to make the film “salable and Hollywood-esque”.

The Lexicon of International Films wrote: “The film adaptation of the autobiographical book of a man who has risen to become a multimillionaire celebrates the creed of the American constitution. Due to the insensibility of the protagonist, who accepts every setback with stoic composure, the story seems rather implausible and hardly touches even in its few moments of happiness. "

Moviepilot spoke of a “touching and heartfelt drama” about a father “who is ready to do anything to ensure that his child has a better life”. Jaden Christopher Syre Smith was also praised, who was making "his impressive debut as a film actor" at the side of his real father as his film son.

Cinema could not win much from the film and spoke of a "cinematically disappointing work" that actually shows "the ugly side of the American dream". Conclusion: "A persistence film for America's poor swallowers that should raise eyebrows in the rest of the world."

Awards

Will Smith was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in 2007. Both he and the song A Father's Way were nominated for a 2007 Golden Globe Award . Will Smith and Jaden Smith were nominated for the 2007 Broadcast Film Critics Association Award . Jaden Smith received the MTV Movie Award in 2007 , Will Smith was also nominated for this award in another category. The pursuit of happiness was also honored with an Image Award in the “Best Film” category. Will Smith, Jaden Smith and Thandie Newton were also each nominated for the Image Award.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for The Pursuit of Happiness . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , January 2007 (PDF; test number: 108 692 K).
  2. ↑ Age rating for the pursuit of happiness . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ↑ Filming locations for The Pursuit of Happyness
  4. ↑ Start dates for The Pursuit of Happyness
  5. ^ Box office results for The Pursuit of Happyness , accessed April 14, 2008
  6. ↑ The pursuit of happiness Fig. DVD case (in the picture: Will Smith, Jaden Smith)
  7. ^ German dubbing files - Films - The pursuit of happiness. In: synchronkartei.de . Retrieved December 7, 2019 .
  8. ↑ David Ansen: The Pursuit of Happyness In: Newsweek , December 17, 2006 (English). Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  9. ↑ James Berardinelli : The Pursuit of Happyness see page reelviews.net (English). Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  10. ↑ Andrea Niederfriniger: The pursuit of happiness criticism on the page Filmreporter.de. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  11. ↑ The pursuit of happiness. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed July 20, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  12. ↑ The pursuit of happiness see page Moviepilot (including film trailer). Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  13. ↑ The pursuit of happiness see page cinema.de (including 32 film images). Retrieved July 20, 2019.