Bloody misfortune!
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Bloody misfortune! |
| Country of production | GDR |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1989 |
| length | 72 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Hannelore Unterberg |
| script |
Michael Göthe Hannelore Unterberg |
| production | DEFA , KAG "Berlin" |
| music | Karl-Ernst Sasse |
| camera | Michael Göthe |
| cut | Thea Richter |
| occupation | |
| |
Bloody misfortune! is a DEFA fairy tale film by Hannelore Unterberg from 1989. It is based on the fairy tale Who masters misfortune, finds happiness by Samuil Marschak .
action
When the woodcutter suddenly splits his ax and branches and twigs fall on him, he curses his great misfortune. In fact, the mishap appears to the perplexed lumberjack as a ragged, long-haired, goblin-like creature that can change shape and voice at will. The mishap explains to him that it is eternal and cannot be given away or chased away. He could only sell it. Along with a spell, the mishap will then attach to the buyer. The lumberjack succeeds in selling a rope to the merchant Habermoos and with it the misfortune. Habermoos is supposed to marry the woodcutter's daughter Kathrin, but Kathrin refuses because she has fallen in love with penniless Michael, who was drafted into army service.
Habermoos is hit by mishap after buying it. His merchant's car is stolen, he himself is robbed of his clothes and left in the forest in his underwear and with a lighter that was mockingly borrowed from one of the thieves. He crawls into the leaves and is promptly found there by the king's men who are preparing the forest for the king's hunt with his future son-in-law, the Prince of Bouillon. Habermoos is captured. But when the king lacks a lighter to sear the hunted animals, Habermoos sells him his. Previously, he identified the gatekeeper Ludwig as one of the thieves of his grocery cart. The gatekeeper brings Habermoos back his car, the mishap now depends on the king.
A little later, while eating, the king must find out that the state purse is empty. The poultry is too salty and the castle is gradually falling into disrepair. The king's servants leave him because they are no longer receiving a salary and the army also deserted just as war was declared on the king. Only Michael, who is currently on guard duty, remains dutifully at his post as he is waiting to be relieved. The king replaces him pro forma. He also sells him his valuable snuffbox for five pfennigs and Michael has this purchase confirmed in writing. Meanwhile, Kathrin has been locked up by her father because she does not want to marry Habermoos and is keeping her imprisonment for a long time. Worn down by the stubbornness of his daughter, the woodcutter agrees to accept Michael as his son-in-law if he has brought Kathrin by 6 p.m.
Kathrin's siblings alert Michael, who is now struggling with the mishap. This locks him up in his barracks cell and prevents his shouting and knocking from being heard. Michael wants to outsmart the mishap. When it really wants to taste the snuff, Michael turns it into a mosquito and locks it in the tobacco box. Sneezing and fighting against sinking into tobacco, the misfortune becomes weak. Michael escapes the cell and rushes to Kathrin. Habermoos has already arrived there and wants to celebrate her engagement with Kathrin. When Michael appears shortly before 6 p.m. and Kathrin now belongs to him, Habermoos brings Michael to the king as a deserter and thief of the snuffbox. The king first wants to arrest Michael as a thief of the can, but then recognizes from the handwritten receipt that he sold it for five pfennigs. He wants the can back, but only has three pfennigs on hand. Habermoos and the woodcutter each add a penny and Michael hands over the can and misfortune to all three men. He hurries away with Kathrin. The mishap is divided into three: The king now breaks into the balcony of the castle and Habermoos and the woodcutter are attacked by thieves. Michael and Kathrin, however, drive away together in the car.
production
Bloody misfortune! was created under the working title happiness is only for those who do not fear suffering . Outside locations were Wiesenburg Castle , in whose inner courtyard the pattern scenes of the soldiers were shot at the beginning of the film, and Rabenstein with Rabenstein Castle and Castle . The studio recordings, which made up around 40 percent of the film, were delayed, among other things, because parallel to the Damned Misfortune! numerous other films were made in the DEFA studios, including Der Bruch , Pestalozzis Berg , Stalingrad , Rapunzel or the magic of tears and The story of the goose princess and her faithful horse Falada . There was therefore a lack of space to erect the necessary decorations and buildings - for example the ballroom of the royal palace.
Bloody misfortune! premiered on July 2, 1989 in Berlin's Colosseum . On July 7, 1989, it was shown in the GDR cinemas and was shown on television for the first time on January 25, 1991 on Dem Erste .
criticism
The contemporary criticism of the GDR stated: “The difficulties in life can be mastered if one is only ready and courageous enough! This is the director's message that is sure to reach her young audience. On top of that, the film is exciting and entertaining, [...] and there is always enough food for thought. ”“ Fresh and varied, told full of love for stories and accompanied with appropriate music, the story's exuberance and wit are convincing, ”critics praised the film.
Other reviewers criticized the fact that although the negative characters of the fairy tale were given a lot of space, the actors of Michael and Kathrin "were given hardly any representational opportunities". Darn mishap! is such a "very unbalanced film". Frank-Burkhard Habel called it a "dramaturgically unsuccessful fairy tale film in which moral values and standards are handled too carelessly". Among other things, the punishment of the woodcutter at the end of the film was considered dubious: “Why it hits the poor woodcutter - after all, the father and father-in-law of the couple - is not entirely understandable and could well be perceived as an injustice by young viewers. The entertaining film about the deceit of fate could easily have used a dramaturgical change ”.
A major criticism of the film was that Unterberg interprets mishap as misfortune. The mishap is “inconsistent with the deeds ascribed to him in the film. When a king is threatened by war or a merchant is robbed, it must be seen as more than a misfortune. In the face of such contradictions, the fantasy figure becomes independent within the plot. "
It was a darned misfortune for the film service ! an "in episodes told, originally decorated, but hardly gripping fairy tale film."
literature
- Bloody misfortune! In: DEFA Foundation (ed.): The DEFA fairy tale films . Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt am Main 2010, ISBN 978-3-00-032589-2 , pp. 248-253.
- F.-B. Habel : The great lexicon of DEFA feature films . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-349-7 , pp. 657-658 .
- Bloody misfortune! In: Ingelore König, Dieter Wiedemann, Lothar Wolf (eds.): Between Marx and Muck. DEFA films for children . Henschel, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-89487-234-9 , pp. 385-387.
Web links
- Bloody misfortune! in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Bloody misfortune! at filmportal.de
- Bloody misfortune! at the DEFA Foundation
- Bloody misfortune! - full film in German on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ↑ Darn misfortune! In: DEFA Foundation (ed.): The DEFA fairy tale films . Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt am Main 2010, p. 253.
- ^ Regina Köhler in: Neue Zeit , July 25, 1989.
- ↑ Darn misfortune! In: Ingelore König, Dieter Wiedemann, Lothar Wolf (eds.): Between Marx and Muck. DEFA films for children . Henschel, Berlin 1996, p. 386.
- ↑ Hans-Dieter Tok in: Wochenpost , No. 33, 1989.
- ↑ F.-B. Habel : The great lexicon of DEFA feature films . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-349-7 , pp. 658 .
- ↑ Darn misfortune! In: Ingelore König, Dieter Wiedemann, Lothar Wolf (eds.): Between Marx and Muck. DEFA films for children . Henschel, Berlin 1996, p. 387.
- ^ Klaus-Dieter Felsmann: Inept adaptation . In: Filmspiegel , No. 17, 1989, p. 14.
- ↑ Darn misfortune! In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .