Meet in Travers
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Meet in Travers |
| Country of production | GDR |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1989 |
| length | 105 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Michael Gwisdek |
| script | Michael Gwisdek Thomas Knauf |
| production | DEFA , KAG "Babelsberg" |
| music | Reiner Bredemeyer |
| camera | Claus Neumann |
| cut | Evelyn Carow |
| occupation | |
| |
Meet in Travers is a German feature film from the DEFA studio for feature films by Michael Gwisdek from 1989 based on the story of the same name by Fritz Hofmann .
action
In the fall of 1793 in true Paris living revolutionary Georg Forster in the small Swiss town Travers and his wife Therese , to discuss the divorce. This meeting is being prepared by the Swiss Councilor of State Rougemont, who has chosen the location because the Prussians do not yet have any powers here. In Prussia, Forster is wanted by the police for his revolutionary activities and his wife, who lives in exile with the State Councilor Rougemont in Switzerland , is not allowed to enter the country as long as she is married to Forster. Therese comes with their two children and their new partner Ferdinand Huber , as she hopes to be able to travel back to her home country through the divorce.
Physically and psychologically weakened by the revolutionary struggles in France, Forster looks so bad that his daughter Klärchen does not recognize him and even Therese is very upset about his appearance. Everyone used the first evening in the remote hotel to talk to each other. After the children and the nanny have said goodbye to sleep, the relationship between Therese and Ferdinand comes up, which Georg once brought into his house himself. Although Georg officially accepts the relationship, he repeatedly shows his love for Therese.
The next morning, Georg is sitting at the breakfast table, freshly shaved and combed, when his wife arrives. She asks him not to wage war against Ferdinand. She is only there to be divorced because she needs clear relationships. However, her husband suggests that they can stay together, with Huber as the third party, as it would be the possibility of a new form of living together. The evening then ends again in unlimited drinking.
Contrary to his usual habits, Ferdinand got up early the following day and romps outdoors with Georg and the two children. Then the two men go for a walk through the Swiss mountains. Here, Forster is accused by Huber of having set out to get Therese unfaithful to justify the failure of the marriage, which Forster contradicts. He insists that he does not want to do without Therese, but Huber denies him the right to do so. In the afternoon Therese and Georg go to the mayor to have their marriage dissolved. However, he cannot simply comply with this request and requires a documentary justification for the annulment of the marriage, which is not available. So both have to go back without having achieved anything, which leads to Therese almost collapsing and Georg cannot hide a slight joy. After their return to the hotel, Forster replies to Huber's question whether everything is okay, that he thinks so.
During a walk through the mountains, the two men fight again about their relationship with Therese, whereby their different points of view come to light. The fog becomes thicker and thicker and they lose sight of each other until Forster finds his rival on a rocky slope that he can only hold on to with his fingertips. Despite the rivalry, he saves his life. Georg goes back to Paris and although Therese still loves him, she doesn't follow him because she knows that he will always sacrifice his private life to work for the revolution. But she also knows that Huber needs her.
Georg Forster dies two months later at the age of 39 in Paris. Therese lived for 10 years with Ferdinand Huber, whom she married, in Germany until his death. Another 25 years later, Therese Huber dies as a well-known writer.
Production and publication
Meetings in Travers was filmed on ORWO -Color as a contribution to the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution and in memory of the German Jacobin Georg Forster by the artistic working group "Babelsberg" and had its world premiere on April 27, 1989 at the Berlin Kino International .
Thomas Knauf was responsible for the scenario and the dramaturgy was in the hands of Christoph Prochnow .
criticism
In the criticism of the Neue Zeit , Helmut Ullrich made a statement:
“It was the first time an actor directed a film, and he did it with tremendous confidence. Everything is right in the directorial debut that Michael Gwisdek made with the DEFA film 'Treffen in Travers' - the dramaturgy, the image design, the montage, the actor management and the merging of these elements into rhythm and expression, into a film that is captivating . "
Günter Sobe remarked in the Berliner Zeitung :
“A contemporary film in the guise of two hundred years ago. All the problems we touch are also our problems. All considered thoughts apply today as they may have applied then. "
The lexicon of international films writes that the directorial debut of actor Michael Gwisdek, especially impressive in his performance and the atmospheric density.
Awards
- 1989: State award: Particularly valuable
- 1989: Participation in the Un Certain Regard series at the Cannes International Film Festival
- 1990: Theory and Criticism Section of the Association of Film and TV Makers in the GDR: Critics' Prize The Big Flap for the Best Film 1989
- 1990: 6th feature film festival of the GDR in Berlin : main prize
- 1990: 6th feature film festival of the GDR in Berlin: Prize for female lead (Corinna Harfouch)
- 1990: 6th feature film festival of the GDR in Berlin: Prize for male leading role (Hermann Beyer)
literature
- F.-B. Habel : The great lexicon of DEFA feature films . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-349-7 , pp. 624 to 625 .
- Meeting in Travers In: Ingrid Poss / Peter Warneke (Eds.): Spur der Films Christoph Links Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-86153-401-3 , pp. 448 to 451.
Web links
- Meeting in Travers in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Meet in Travers at filmportal.de
- Meeting in Travers at the DEFA Foundation
Individual evidence
- ↑ Neue Zeit of April 28, 1989, p. 4
- ↑ Berliner Zeitung of April 29, 1989, p. 7
- ^ Meeting in Travers. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 17, 2018 .
- ↑ Berliner Zeitung of December 22, 1989, p. 7