Timm Thaler or The Laughing Soldier (film)

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Movie
Original title Timm Thaler or The Laughing Soldier
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2017
length 98 minutes
Age rating FSK 0
JMK 6
Rod
Director Andreas Dresen
script Alexander Adolph
production Oliver Berben
music Johannes Repka
camera Michael Hammon
cut Jörg Hauschild
occupation

Timm Thaler or The Sold Laughing is a film by Andreas Dresen based on the 1962 novel Timm Thaler or The Sold Laughing by James Krüss and the television series Timm Thaler , which was made as a Christmas series on ZDF in 1979. The film was released in German cinemas on February 2, 2017.

action

In the 1920s, the young Timm Thaler lived with his father in a small alley in a German town. Even if he grows up in poor circumstances, he is happy and has a smile that no one can resist. This is so contagious and disarming that the extremely wealthy Baron Lefuet desperately wants to own it. He believes that this will make him a sympathetic figure and make it easier for him to manipulate other people, especially for his business benefit. Lefuet suggests an unusual deal to Timm. The boy will win every bet in the future if he sells him his special laugh. After Timm has signed the contract to pay off his family's debts, he can now apparently fulfill all his wishes thanks to the new ability. But Timm soon notices that with his laugh, his joie de vivre has also been lost and without it he becomes more and more lonely. More and more the unhappy boy falls into the clutches of the diabolical baron, who believes that Timm loses a piece of his soul with every further bet he wins. The baron has Timm supervised by his employees, who tell him every day what he is up to. Timm's friends Ida and Kreschimir try everything to get his laughter back. Timm runs away from home and they go in search of Lefuet to get Timm's laughter back.

production

Literary template

James Krüss provided his novel Timm Thaler , which he published in 1962, with social and consumer criticism , especially in the descriptions of the social rise of Timm's stepmother and capitalism as the religion of the baron. He owns a global industrial group, and he finally found Timm Thaler, the boy with the most beautiful smile, in Munich. To clarify the “devilish”, Krüss used an ananym for the baron's name, Lefuet , which means devil when read backwards .

Production history

In March 2015, Constantin Film announced that the ZDF Christmas series Timm Thaler from 1979, which was based on the book of the same name by James Krüss and had become a television classic, would be made into a film and Andreas Dresen would take over the direction. At the same time it became known that an actor was still being sought for the main role of Timm Thaler who would have to bring a twin brother, and Constantin Film launched an appeal to twins between the ages of eleven and twelve at this time. The script adaptation was written by the Grimme Prize winner Alexander Adolph .

Andreas Dresen directed the film

The story does not take place in the film at any specific time, as Dresen said. Although this is based on the 1920s given in the book, it rather represents a kind of fairy tale world that was there at some point. Timm Thaler's fantasy world has become a mixture of real buildings, such as the Berlin Grand Hotel, but also fantasy elements, such as the strangely creepy Baron Castle. Dresen sees the children's novel published in 1962, which served as a template for the television series and also for the film, “a very timeless story” that has a message that can still apply today. According to Dresen, it's about not necessarily becoming happier when you're the richest man in the world. According to Dresen, the message is also to orientate oneself towards the right values ​​and not to commit to money, which is a simple and profane moral, but also an important one. In the end, friendship also plays an important role in the film, because Timm can only get out of his dilemma with the help of really good friends.

occupation

The main role of Timm Thaler was cast with 13-year-old Arved Friese from Berlin. In the search for the right child star, Dresen explained that the boy in the film had to have an enchanting and contagious laugh, even if he couldn't use it for long periods of the film narration. Friese had recently in the movie The Nanny by Matthias Schweighofer assumed the role of Theo, who makes his nanny's life hell.

Baron Lefuet is played by Justus von Dohnányi . Other roles were cast with Axel Prahl , Andreas Schmidt , Jule Hermann , Charly Hübner , Bjarne Mädel , Fritzi Haberlandt , Milan Peschel , Steffi Kühnert and Nadja Uhl . Even Thomas Ohrner who embodied the Timm Thaler in the ZDF Christmas series from 1979, has in the film a half minute appearance as a hotel concierge. Similarly, Harald Schmidt and the songwriter Heinz-Rudolf Kunze in the film. About 200 extras, women, men and children between 18 and 75 years from Halle, Leipzig and the surrounding area were wanted for the five days of shooting in Halle.

Financing, filming and equipment

The film was made in coproduction with ZDF and was funded by Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung with 750,000 euros, by FilmFernsehFonds Bayern with a distribution grant of 100,000 euros, by the Filmförderungsanstalt with a total of 1.1 million euros, and by the German Film Fund with 1.3 million euros and funded by the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg with 500,000 euros. Financing the film turned out to be difficult, according to Dresen. In addition, from 2015 small actors in films received about a third more money than before due to the minimum wage law , which, according to Dresen, led to an increase in the budget because a large number of small actors were used in Timm Thaler . The total budget of the film was around 8 million euros.

In the film, Timm Thaler and Baron Lefuet meet for the first time in a horse race. The recordings were shot at the horse racing tracks in Halle and in Hoppegarten (left). The Berlin Supreme Court (right) became a grand hotel in the film In the film, Timm Thaler and Baron Lefuet meet for the first time in a horse race. The recordings were shot at the horse racing tracks in Halle and in Hoppegarten (left). The Berlin Supreme Court (right) became a grand hotel in the film
In the film, Timm Thaler and Baron Lefuet
meet for the first time in a horse race . The recordings were shot at the horse racing tracks in Halle
and in Hoppegarten (left). The Berlin Supreme Court (right) became a
grand hotel in the film

The shooting took place from September 14th to November 18th, 2015 in Halle , Berlin , Potsdam and the surrounding Brandenburg area. In an old fencing hall near the Berlin Olympic site , scenes for the baron's palace were filmed. Exterior shots of the Berlin Supreme Court served the Grand Hotel as a backdrop. The shooting in Brandenburg took place on the horse racing track Hoppegarten in the district of Märkisch-Oderland and in Kleinmachnow in the district of Potsdam-Mittelmark , as well as in Potsdam on the premises of Studio Babelsberg . In the workshops there, a five by five meter model of the world in which the film is set was created and which Baron Timm is giving to show him how he can control the world. The virtual effects during the shooting were created in the studios of Studio Babelsberg's VCC studio. In the film, the windows of the model houses light up, the locomotives emit smoke, which gives this city model a magical touch, says Dresen. The model was designed by production designer Uli Hanisch , who already designed the sets and backdrops for Babelsberg productions The International and Babylon Berlin . Six model builders then built the city model for about six weeks, paying attention to the detail of the streets and trees, so that it was also possible to overlay the camera from the model into the real scene of the film.

Filming began in Halle at the beginning of November 2015 and was originally scheduled for September 2015. In Halle, too, film recordings were made at the horse racing track there. The shooting in Halle was finished in mid-December 2015. According to Dresen, up to 16 make-up artists were on duty on individual days of shooting.

The cameraman Michael Hammon used the cameras ALEXA XT, ALEXA Plus and ALEXA Mini for the shoot. Work accompanying the shooting was carried out in the Arri Media branch in Halle, the visual effects in the company's Munich branch, such as the transformation of two of the Baron's employees into rats.

Film music, props and costumes

The film music (composer: Johannes Repka ) was recorded by the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg in its headquarters on the premises of Studio Babelsberg in the main hall of the Scoring Stage . Numerous props and costumes (costume design: Lola winner Sabine Greunig) also come from Studio Babelsberg's collection.

Marketing and Publishing

Since the beginning of August 2016, the miniature version of Timm Thaler city is from the film - the above model "Timm Thaler Fantasy" - on the authority of Dresen as a tribute to the film set and attraction in Calligari Hall of theme and leisure parks Babelsberg Film Park next the studio area.

The film was released in German cinemas on February 2, 2017. Dresen presented the film in Leipzig on January 28, 2017. In June 2017, the film was shown as part of the German Children's Media Festival Goldener Spatz in the Kino-TV competition. The film has been shown on Sky Cinema, Sky Go and Sky On Demand since December 25, 2017. The film was shown at the Festival of German Films in August and September 2018 .

The free TV premiere was on December 26, 2018 on ZDF.

reception

Age rating

In Germany, the film was approved by the FSK without any age restriction. The reason for the release states: “The film works with a clear good-bad drawing and takes place in a fairytale-like world, which is also easily recognizable for small children. In the end, good wins and bad is punished. Very occasionally there are slightly dramatic or frightening scenes (e.g. when Timm meets the baron for the first time), but these are always quickly resolved and have no lasting effect. "

Reviews

From the German Film and Media Review was Timm Thaler with the predicate particularly valuable provided. The reasoning states: “Like the novel by James Krüss , the film is set in the 1920s and has a clear social message against greed and consumer behavior. With his script, Alexander Adolph has adapted and expanded the material in a contemporary way. [...] Andreas Dresen , his team and his actors have created a movie with 'Timm Thaler' that can compete with major children's films on an international level. "

Katrin Hoffmann from epd Film says that Andreas Dresen created a warm-hearted and exciting film that gets under your skin with great images and a clear message. Hoffmann says of the main actor: " Arved Friese sometimes plays Timm too cautiously and stoically, Dresen should have trusted him with more emotions, because Timm can no longer laugh, but he should be sad or angry."

Cornelia Geissler from the Frankfurter Rundschau says about the work of the scriptwriter that Adolph gave Timm a friend of the same age as Jule Hermann in the role of Ida Bebber, who portrays them with a seriousness, as is their own with children who have experienced more than one has wanted to wish them.

In an article for MDR Kultur, Knut Elstermann describes the film as an “imaginative, capitalism-critical Faust legend for children”, and the film shows that it is about a high price to pay for one's dream.

Gross profit

The film recorded a total of 323,647 visitors in German cinemas.

Use in school lessons

In spring 2019, the film will be presented as part of the SchulKinoWoche in Baden-Württemberg.

Awards

German Film Award 2017

Festival of German Films 2018

Golden Sparrow 2017

  • Nomination in the cinema TV competition

German Film Critics' Prize 2017

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Certificate of release for Timm Thaler or The sold laugh . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 163357 / K). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ Age rating for Timm Thaler or The sold laugh . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ↑ Sabine Rennefanz: Who was Timm Thaler really? In: Zeit Online, December 20, 2000. Note: A nun and a sailor do not appear in the novel. They were added to the story by Justus Pfaue for the ZDF Christmas series.
  4. ↑ Timm Thaler will be remade for the cinema In: Focus Online, March 2, 2016.
  5. ^ A b c d e Sarah Kugler: Andreas Dresens filmed classic children's books. Babelsberg shows Timm Thaler's Fantasy World In: Der Tagesspiegel, August 5, 2016.
  6. ↑ a b c d Dresen spent six months looking for the new Timm Thaler In: RBB Online, August 4, 2016.
  7. ↑ a b c Björn Becher: 'Timm Thaler': cast for the remake of the classic has been determined In: filmstarts.de, September 4, 2015.
  8. ↑ 'Timm Thaler': Agency is looking for 200 Halle residents for filming In: hallespektrum.de, 25 August 2015.
  9. ↑ Arved Friese is Timm Thaler In: constantin-film.de, September 4, 2015.
  10. ↑ Funding decisions for film funding 2015 In: medienboard.de. Retrieved December 29, 2016 (PDF)
  11. ↑ a b Timm Thaler or the sold laugh In: crew-united.com. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  12. ↑ a b A powerful story. Interview with the film director Andreas Dresen. In February, his latest strip premiered at the Berlinale in Berlin In: die-linke.de, January 2015.
  13. ↑ Caligari Halle ( Memento from December 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) In: filmpark-babelsberg.de. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  14. ↑ a b Andreas Conrad: Berlin sees stars - the film premieres of the week In: Der Tagesspiegel, December 12, 2016.
  15. ↑ Timm Thaler In: shotinberlin.de. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  16. ^ Filmland Brandenburg 2015 In: bbfc.de. Retrieved December 29, 2016 (PDF)
  17. ↑ "Timm Thalers Fantasiewelt" now in the Filmpark In: based-in-babelsberg.de, January 2017.
  18. ↑ Shooting for 'Timm Thaler' started in Halle In: Welt Online, November 4, 2015.
  19. ↑ Shooting for the Timm Thaler film team says goodbye to Halle In: mz-web.de, December 18, 2015.
  20. ↑ Timm Thaler on the big screen! In: arrimedia.de. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  21. ↑ Tagesspiegel: "Andreas Dresen filmed children's book classics - Babelsberg Film Park shows Timm Thaler's fantasy world" In: tagesspiegel.de . Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  22. ↑ References Babelsberg Costume Fund In: kostuem-babelsberg.de . Babelsberg costume store. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  23. ↑ The movie 'Timm Thaler' celebrates its premiere in Leipzig In: Leipziger Volkszeitung, January 28, 2017.
  24. ↑ Program AZ ( Memento from August 11, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) In: goldenerspatz.de. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  25. ↑ Reason for release for Timm Thaler or the sold laugh In: Voluntary self-control of the film industry. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  26. ↑ Timm Thaler or the sold laugh In: fbw-filmbeval.com . German film and media rating. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  27. ↑ Katrin Hoffmann: Review of 'Timm Thaler or the laughter sold' In: epd Film, January 27, 2017.
  28. ↑ Cornelia Geissler: Such types are known in: Frankfurter Rundschau, February 2, 2017.
  29. ↑ Knut Elstermann: Start of the film: 'Timm Thaler or Dasverkaufte Lachen': An imaginative, capitalism-critical Faust legend for children ( Memento from February 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) In: MDR Kultur, February 2, 2017.
  30. ↑ Top 100 Germany 2017 In: insidekino.com. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  31. ↑ Film selection. In: schulkinowoche-bw.de. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  32. ↑ The preselection for the German Film Prize 2017 ( Memento from February 17, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) In: deutsche-filmakademie.de. Retrieved February 17, 2017 (PDF; 557 KB)
  33. ↑ The nominees 2017 ( memento from March 17, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) In: deutscher-filmpreis.de. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  34. ↑ http://www.festival-des-deutschen-films.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Kinderfilmfest_2018.pdf
  35. ↑ Award winners 2017 In: vdfk.de, February 19, 2018.