Condemned to sin
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Condemned to sin |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1964 |
| length | 104 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Alfred Weidenmann |
| script |
Eberhard Keindorff Johanna Sibelius based on the novel Die fortress (1962) by Henry Jaeger |
| production | Eberhard Klagemann for Eichberg-Film (Munich), Team-Film (Berlin) |
| music | Wolf Kubitzky |
| camera | Enzo Serafin |
| cut | Hermione Diethelm |
| occupation | |
and Charles Regnier , Kerstin de Ahna , Herbert Fux , Reinhard Glemnitz | |
Damned to Sin (alternative title: Die fortress ) is a German feature film from 1964 by Alfred Weidenmann in the form of a satirical picture of the times and morals, based on a novel by Henry Jaeger . Martin Held and Hildegard Knef play the leading roles .
action
Germany at the time of the economic miracle. Hugo Starosta, who was expelled from the east of Germany annexed by Poland after the Second World War, is one of the few who did not make it in the years of reconstruction. Almost twenty years after the end of the war, he and his extended family live in a fortress-like castle, which is operated by the state as a reception and refugee camp and which has increasingly become a social housing project. The accommodation - a one-room emergency quarter for eight people from three generations - is degenerate, poor and filthy, Starosta itself is work-shy and gossiping, bossy and at times choleric. His children know nothing but this misery and threaten themselves to neglect. One of his offspring becomes a father at the age of 15, another, actually a factory worker, is secretly engaged in prostitution . Aggression, outbreaks of violence and unrestrained lifestyle are on the agenda.
While other residents of the camp strive to leave these unworthy living conditions behind them as quickly as possible, old Starosta has long since come to terms with these circumstances and even feels comfortable with them. He likes to mess with the authorities and finally manages to get him and his clan to stay while the other residents gradually evacuate the fortress. Starosta defends its misery "paradise" with all consistency, young intruders are driven out of the little room by him - throwing things and handing out kicks. More and more, Hugo Starosta has become the patriarch of a family that has comfortably settled in the abandoned precariat . Starosta proves to be a grumpy bon vivant who at most only apparently takes the initiative to escape the prevailing conditions; for example when he sets up a kind of "transport company". Nevertheless, his main daily occupation is lazing around, making lofty speeches and getting on the nerves of others.
The other Starostas and their personal environment also seem to spring from a panopticon of bizarre types; there is, for example, the very old grandmother who simply does not want to die and who complains about the coffin that has already been chosen and is inferior in her eyes. One of the Starosta sons, the shy Albert, has huge big ears that determine all his thoughts and actions. The friend of Starosta's sister lives out his image as a plump woman who makes women happy, while the representative, a meek and humble man, represents the absolute opposite of him. The two oldest Starosta sons fled the fortress. Their names are Adolf and Hermann and shed some light on Hugo Starosta's political views until 1945. Neighbor Alwine, as she says, “experienced certain things on the run” and has not really been interested in sex since then. Starosta's wife was also raped by Red Army soldiers, Hugo reveals in a half-sentence, but, according to Starosta, “it didn't matter that much”.
Production notes
Damned to Sin was filmed in mid-1964 and premiered in Germany on September 25, 1964. The outdoor shots were mainly made in Austria: Wels , Linz , Parz Castle and Rappottenstein Castle . It was first broadcast on television on September 10, 1970 on ARD .
This was the last film for 60-year-old production veteran Eberhard Klagemann . The buildings and costumes are by Herta Hareiter . Gert Wilden took over the musical direction.
Christa Linder , 20 years old at the time of shooting , made her film debut in Damned to Sin . For a German production from 1964 some “daring” scenes can be seen: for about a second there is a bare, female breast, and during an erotic tussle Kerstin de Ahna is grabbed by the breast (covered by the dress).
According to production manager Karl Spiehs , the contemporary cinema audience barely appreciated the film. However, due to the much-noticed repetitions on television, it has become "a cult film from the social milieu of the post-war period".
Awards
The 84-year-old theater veteran Tilla Durieux received the gold film for her performance as best supporting actress. Martin Held and Hildegard Knef were also nominated as best leading actors.
Held was named Best Actor at the Mar del Plata Film Festival in 1965 .
criticism
Der Spiegel wrote in its December 9, 1964 issue: “Only the opening scenes of this film based on the novel" Die fortress "by ex-convict Henry Jäger (SPIEGEL 40/1963) promise mastering German reality, then director Alfred Weidenmann turns away - to moderately amusing anti-social swank, which the virtuoso Martin Held (Starosta) and Hildegard Knef as frigid refugee women do not help. "
The lexicon of international film formulated: “A drastically painted picture of morals, whose bitter portrayal of German post-war confusion degenerates into a superficial spectacle; at best remarkable in terms of acting. "
In 1962/64 Films it is full of indignation: “Based on Henry Jaeger's novel 'The Fortress', a moral painting intended as an indictment against the state and society, which overshoots the goal in terms of intent and choice of means. Despite considerable individual performance, unacceptable on the whole. "
Martin Prucha wrote in Reclam's Lexikon des Deutschen Films (1995) that the moral painting, which was as revealing as it was rough for German film at the time, conveyed a vivid picture of the post-war period. It owes its greatest impact to the immediacy and intensity of its young actors.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Roman Schliesser: The super nose. Karls Spiehs and his films , Verlag Carl Ueberreuter, Vienna 2006, p. 27
- ↑ Doomed to Sin in Der Spiegel 50/1964
- ↑ Damned to sin. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ^ Films 1962/64, Critical Notes from Three Cinema Years. Handbook VII of the Catholic film criticism, p. 182.Dusseldorf 1965
- ↑ Reclams Lexikon des Deutschen Films ed. by Thomas Kramer, Stuttgart, Reclam, 1995, p. 324
Web links
- Condemned to sin in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Damned to sin at filmportal.de