Whales in August
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Whales in August |
| Original title | The Whales of August |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1987 |
| length | 85 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Lindsay Anderson |
| script | David Berry |
| production | Mike Kaplan |
| music | Alan Price |
| camera | Mike Fash |
| cut | Nicolas Gaster |
| occupation | |
| |
Wale in August is an American film directed by Lindsay Anderson in 1987. It is based on the play The Whales of August by David Berry , who also wrote the screenplay .
action
The widowed sisters Libby and Sarah have spent the summer on an island off the coast of the US state of Maine for over 60 years . There they have a small wooden house for themselves near the cliffs. The sisters used to be able to watch the whales go by in August, but this has not happened for several years. Both are already in old age. Libby has become grumpy and misanthropic through her blindness, she thinks her life is over. She has a strained relationship with her only daughter. Sarah, who lost her husband shortly after their wedding in World War II, is childless and takes loving care of her sister. During the course of the film, the two remember sad and happy experiences of their past, which are now long ago, and especially of their deceased husbands. Sarah and Libby repeatedly get into smaller arguments. When Sarah wants the local craftsman Joshua to install a picture window in the house, Libby refuses to do so amid violent protests, because she and her sister think she and her sister are already too old to make changes. Libby is also defensive to most of her sister's advances.
One morning the old neighbor Tisha comes to visit, who has been friends with Sarah since her youth. Sensitive to her surroundings, Libby notices suspiciously that Tisha wants to persuade Sarah to sell her house and suggests that she move in without Libby. In the evening the sisters host a dinner with the charming Russian immigrant Mr. Maranov, who is just as disliked by Libby and who gets to feel it. Maranov once belonged to a wealthy aristocratic family in Russia, but had to flee for political reasons. He previously lived with an old friend of the two sisters who has now passed away. Maranov feels drawn to Sarah and since he has to fear that he will soon be homeless and destitute, he offers himself to her as a subtenant. Both Tisha's and Maranov's attempts, however, are thwarted by Libby's hostilities.
Sarah contemplates leaving her sister to look after her and selling her house. When Tisha introduces her to the interested realtor Mr. Beckwith, Sarah refuses to sell the house because she wants to stay with her sister. Meanwhile, after initially violent protests, Libby surprisingly agrees to the installation of a panorama window to the sea requested by Sarah - although it is of no use to the blind and Libby considers both of them too old to change. The two old ladies go out onto a cliff and hope to see the whales later this year.
background
Wale in August was based on the play by screenwriter David Berry (1943-2016) and was shot in the summer of 1986 on Cliff Island off the city of Portland in Maine , where Berry was based. The house is still there today.
The director was the Briton Lindsay Anderson , for whom Wale became his last feature film in August . It was the last film for Lillian Gish and Ann Sothern, and both then retired from acting. Gish, who made her film debut in 1912, was 93 years old at the time of filming, making her the oldest leading actress in a feature film. For Bette Davis it was the last film that she completely turned off. Two years later she appeared again in the film Dance of the Witches in front of the camera, but stopped filming prematurely for health reasons and because of differences with the director Larry Cohen .
One scene at the beginning shows Sarah, Tisha and Libby as young women. In these scenes, Tisha Sterling plays the role of young Tisha, while in real life her mother, Ann Sothern, plays old Tisha. Sarah also mentions in the film that Tisha has a penchant for submarines. Ann Sothern's grandfather was the engineer Simon Lake , who is considered to be the co-inventor of today's submarine.
synchronization
| role | actor | German Dubbing voice |
|---|---|---|
| Sarah Webber | Lillian Gish | Else Quecke |
| Libby Strong | Bette Davis | Tilly Lauenstein |
| Mr. Maranov | Vincent Price | Friedrich Schoenfelder |
| Tisha Doughty | Ann Sothern | Margot Leonard |
| Joshua Brackett, craftsman | Harry Carey Junior | Benno Hoffmann |
| Mr. Beckwith, broker | Frank Grimes | Peter Kirchberger |
| Sarah (young) | Mary Steenburgen | Marika from Radvanyi |
| Libby (young) | Margaret Ladd | Frauke Raiser |
reception
Wale in August premiered on October 16, 1987 in New York and received mostly positive reviews. In the United States, the film was not particularly successful at the box office, but this was not the case in Japan, where the film was shown in theaters for a full year and several stage versions were shown. The story also hit the stages in Russia, Greece and Great Britain after the film. In Germany, Wale only had its premiere as a television broadcast on April 15, 1990.
“It is possible that Anderson is looking too much at Chekhov's melancholy, and that the simplicity of the secrets of the two old ladies' past often fails to redeem the tension that has built up. But such an opportunity to see two of the greatest actresses in cinema history again, aged and grappling with old age, will certainly not happen again. "
"A film about aging and attitudes to it, and a homage to almost 100 years of cinema, embodied in Lillian Gish and Bette Davis, whose charisma dominates the film."
“Thanks to the big old ladies and sensitive direction, it doesn't take violent outbursts of emotion to be deeply touching. Conclusion: sensitive late work by two cinema icons. (Rating: very good) "
Awards
Lillian Gish received the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress for her role in this film . Ann Sothern also received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress .
literature
- David Berry : The Whales of August. A play in two acts . Dramatists Play Service, New York 1984, 64 pp. (Not yet translated into German)
Web links
- Whales in August in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ IMDb Trivia
- ↑ IMDb Trivia
- ↑ Release info at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ Whales in August. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ^ "Wale im August" at Cinema