Diversion (movie)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | detour |
| Original title | Detour |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1945 |
| length | 67 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Edgar G. Ulmer |
| script |
Martin Goldsmith , Martin Mooney |
| production |
Leon Fromkess for PRC Pictures |
| music | Leo Erdody |
| camera | Benjamin H. Kline |
| cut | George McGuire |
| occupation | |
| |
Diversion is an American film noir by the director Edgar G. Ulmer from 1945 . Despite its small film budget, it won widespread critical acclaim and is now considered a classic film.
action
Al Roberts, a poor and disgruntled man, sits in a diner bar and tells the audience his story: He, a bar pianist from New York , made his way to Los Angeles to live with his fiancée Sue, who was there with her Tried luck as an actress. Since he has neither a car nor enough money for the train ride, Roberts has to hitchhike the entire distance. One day he is taken away by Charles Haskell Jr., a boastful millionaire's son who has not had any contact with his family for years. The two start talking and after a while Roberts takes the wheel.
When he tries to wake the supposedly sleeping Haskell a short time later, he notices to his horror that he has died. The dead Haskell falls out of the car door and sustains a head injury. Roberts fears the police may not believe this story and suspect him of murder. Therefore, he hides Haskell's body and takes on his identity. Roberts drives on towards Los Angeles, hoping to go into hiding.
At a gas station he offers himself a ride to a young woman named Vera. It soon turns out that Vera knew the dead Haskell and his car even briefly. She confronts Roberts and asks him what he did with the body. Roberts tells her the truth, but she doesn't believe him. Although Vera has nothing but contempt for him, she does not turn Roberts over to the police. She persuades him to sell the car and let her have the money. In Los Angeles they take a hotel room under the name Haskell.
The next day, Vera learns from the newspaper that Haskell's wealthy father is dying and that his heir is now being sought. Vera senses the chance of wealth and demands of Roberts that he should pretend to be the heir. When he refuses, there is an argument. Vera gets drunk and threatens to call the police. She picks up the phone and uses it to lock herself in her bedroom. Roberts desperately tugs on the phone cord to cut the connection. When he finally manages to open the door, Vera lies dead on the bed. In her drunkenness, she had the cord wrapped around her neck and had been accidentally strangled by Roberts. Roberts realizes that all he has left is to flee. Shortly afterwards he reads in the newspaper that Vera's body had been found and that Charles Haskell was now being sought as the murderer. The now broken Al cannot return to Sue and is certain that one day the police will catch him.
Production background
The film is based on the 1939 novel Detour. The author, Martin Goldsmith (1913-1994), was also responsible for the script.
Diversion is a B-movie funded by the production company Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). Filming began on June 14, 1945 and lasted only 14 days. Since the budget was very tight with a planned $ 87,579.75 (actually 117,226.80) dollars, the film is limited to only a few locations: a few hotel rooms and bars, a used car dealership and Haskell's car that was owned by director Edgar G. Ulmer belonged to. Since part of the footage was mirrored to suggest a journey from east to west , the steering wheel of the car is on the right in some scenes.
The piano piece that Al plays in one of the first scenes is Frédéric Chopin's Waltz op.64, No. 2. Claudia Drake also sings the popular hit I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me in the role of Sue .
The last scene in which Al Roberts (whether in reality or just in his imagination remains unclear) is picked up by the police does not appear in the novel. It was added to comply with the Hays censorship guidelines that no criminal should go unpunished. In addition , the religious reference was removed from the last line of the film, " God or Fate or some mysterious force can put the finger on you or on me for no good reason at all. " And the main character Alexander Roth was renamed Al Roberts.
Diversion as film noir
Al Roberts is an innocent average citizen who by chance finds himself in a fateful position and is at the mercy of the seductive but dangerous femme fatale Vera. The story is told in flashbacks and commented off- screen by Roberts . Various analyzes also indicate that Al is an unreliable narrator. He may lie to himself and the viewer in parts of the plot in order to exonerate himself from guilt. This is indicated, for example, by the strange and seeming randomness of the deaths of Haskell and Vera, which the narrator portrays to the viewer as a natural death or accident. The film also makes frequent use of mirrors (e.g. the rear-view mirror in a car) and shadows.
Edgar G. Ulmer came from Austria and worked as a set designer for the films Metropolis , M - A City Seeks a Murderer (both Fritz Lang ), The Golem, How He Came into the World ( Paul Wegener ), The Last Man and Sunrise (both Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau ) participated. The influence of Expressionist cinema is reflected in many of his works, including Derleitung , who is considered a classic representative of film noir.
reception
Diversion celebrated its premiere on November 30, 1945, but was not a commercial success despite favorable reviews. It was only in the 1950s that European critics, above all the authors of the French magazine Les Cahiers du cinéma , recognized the quality of the film and paid attention and appreciation for it. Today diversion is considered a classic of film noir . Directors such as Martin Scorsese , Paul Schrader , Peter Bogdanovich and François Truffaut paid tribute to diversion in films, books and articles and counted him among their influences.
The lexicon of international films judged: "A small, uncomplicated, but very precisely staged thriller that lives primarily from the dense, very dark and oppressive atmosphere." The Time took the film in 2005 in their list of the 100 best films of all time and wrote: "Film noir Yeah, baby No movie is noirer?.."
Awards
In 1992, Detour was the first B-movie ever to be included in the National Film Registry .
Remake
In 1992 Wade Williams (* 1942) made a remake of the same name in which Tom Neal Jr. took over the role that his father had played in the original.
literature
- Goldsmith, Martin M .: Detour ; Blackmask, 2006. ISBN 1-59654-366-3
- Truffaut, François: The films of my life. Essays and reviews ; Verlag der Autor, 1997. ISBN 3-88661-174-4
- Bogdanovich, Peter: Who shot it? ; Haffmans Verlag, 2002. ISBN 3-251-00463-8
- Schrader, Paul: Notes on Film Noir , Article in Film Comment , 1972.
Web links
- Diversion in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Film information, criticism, posters, photos of scenes
- Review by Roger Ebert
- Discussion of the film
Individual evidence
- ↑ Martin Goldsmith at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ Detour (1945). A Life at the Movies, accessed May 26, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Thomas Willmann: Detour - diversion (booklet Koch Media series Film Noir # 14) . Ed .: Koch Media. 2013.
- ↑ http://culturedarm.com/august-film-detour-analysis/
- ↑ http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-detour-1945
- ↑ see literature . Scorsese reviews the film in his 1995 documentary A Journey through American Film
- ↑ redirect. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Detour at Time 100 Movies
- ^ Detour (1992) at the Internet Movie Database