Life is full of miracles
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Life is full of miracles |
| Original title | A Kid for Two Farthings |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1955 |
| length | 96 (original), 93 (German version) minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Carol Reed |
| script | Wolf Mankowitz |
| production | Carol Reed |
| music | Benjamin Frankel |
| camera | Edward Scaife |
| cut | Bert Bates |
| occupation | |
| |
Life is full of miracles is a film fantasy from 1954 about the power of faith and hope. This production by Carol Reed ( The Third Man ) is regarded as one of his rather unknown minor works. The story is based on the previous year (1953) published novel "A Kid for Two Farthings" by Wolf Mankowitz , who also wrote the screenplay.
action
The setting is Petticoat Lane in the poor East End of London with its small retail shops, street vendors and flea market stalls, where every resident has their little dreams and wishes, which, most of them realize, will probably never be fulfilled. Six-year-old Joe also dreams of a better life at the side of his single mother, Joanna. This dream seems to be within reach when one day the tailor Kandinsky tells him the fabulous story of the unicorn that will grant wishes to anyone who has it. Joe is intrigued by the thought, and soon he becomes obsessed with getting possession of this unicorn. One day he sees a still young, but, as it soon turns out, already ailing goat, which instead of its two horns only has a single, screwed horn on its head, because the animal is still growing. Joe is now firmly convinced that it must be the legendary mythical creature and gives all of his savings to the old owner, a homeless person.
The naive boy now begins, believing that his “unicorn” will provide “supernatural” support in his charity, to help the neighbors and friends of the area on all possible occasions. Faith moves mountains, it is said, and so Joe actually works one or the other "little miracle" in Petticoat Lane. Through his beneficial actions he finally gives the tailor the longed-for steam press and, he believes, not only helps the wrestler Sam to win a competition thanks to the "unicorn" goat, but also brings the powerhouse Sam together with the curvy Sonia, who to marry a little later. And what does Joe dream for himself? Well, all he wants is for his father to return and his parents to be reunited at last. But then the goat dies surprisingly, and for Sam, who no longer needs the "miraculous unicorn" to do good, the world seems to collapse ...
Production notes
Life is full of miracles was created in London in 1954, premiered during the Cannes Film Festival in the spring of 1955 and was in competition for the Palme d'Or . In her native Great Britain the film opened on August 15, 1955; in Germany, life was full of miracles from January 20, 1956.
Wilfred Shingleton designed the film structures , Tony Masters assisted him. Alexander Korda took over the production management. Robert Day worked as a simple cameraman to head cameraman Ted Scaife , Gerry Fisher was Scaife's camera assistant.
Reviews
The Movie & Video Guide found the film to be an “imaginative fable”.
Halliwell's Film Guide found that the "comedy drama" was "made with a certain style" on the one hand, and too "insubstantial and too unconvincing to be fondly remembered on the other.
"Overloaded in terms of content, the film captivates with its playful, fairytale-like story and the appropriate milieu and character drawing."
The star critic of the New York Times , Bosley Crowther , praised director Reed for having shown a sure hand for a children's story again after Kleines Herz in Not and having found a “smart boy” to lead the game in Jonathan Ashmore.
Allmovie.com says, "Carol Reed tries a little neorealistic quirkiness."
Individual evidence
- ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 692
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 555
- ↑ Life is full of miracles. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 26, 2018 .
- ^ Review in The New York Times, April 18, 1956
- ↑ A Kid for Two Farthings on allemovie.com
Web links
- Full of wonder life is in the Internet Movie Database (English)