What the heart commands

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Movie
Original title What the heart commands
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1951
length 106 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Leopold Hainisch
script Harald Bratt
production Elton-Film Production, Göttingen
music Giuseppe Becce
camera Friedl Behn-Grund
occupation

What the heart commands is a German film from 1951 directed by Leopold Hainisch. The alternative title is Veronika, the maid .

action

Joseph Huber has always had difficulties with his older brother Florian. Now he has reached a point where he would rather forego the court of his ancestors than continue to live in strife. With his bride, the maid Veronika, he wants to build a new life for himself. Some servants also go with him. He's sure that he'll get the half-ruined property back in good shape. And Veronika, who is pregnant, will have a better life without an argument.

When Veronika went into labor, he rushed through the snow and storm to the mountain hotel for help. This is his undoing, as he is ailing afterwards and eventually dies. Before his death, however, he made Veronica his rightful wife and heiress. The greedy relatives spit poison and bile.

Veronika manages to run the farm in Joseph's sense and even to increase land and cattle. The thought of her husband and especially of her boy gives her the strength to do so.

After a few years, Veronika met Richard Jansen, the junior boss of a large industrial plant and his wife Alice and Richard's friend Freddy. Between Veronika and Richard, who like each other at first sight, a feeling of trust and affection develops. Some time later, Veronika witnesses the intimate relationship between Alice and Freddy. Even Richard can no longer turn a blind eye to the fact that his wife is unfaithful to him.

When he tells his father how things are about his marriage and that he sees no other way than a divorce, he encounters bitter resistance from the arch-conservative man. Old Jansen even goes so far that he simply forbids his son to get a divorce. He does not tolerate a "marriage scandal," as he puts it, and his word is law.

After an argument with his father, Richard goes back to Veronika. He longs for their warmth and the peace that house and surroundings radiate. Veronika takes Richard in without a lot of words, but old Jansen does not give up and influences Veronika so that she sends Richard away with heavy hearts. Only when Jansen senior learns that Veronika is expecting a child from Richard and because his son's marriage has remained childless does he change his mind and no longer stand in the way of his son's happiness with Veronika.

background

What the heart commands was made in the film studio in Göttingen, the exterior shots come from the Walsertal . The buildings were designed by Walter Haag , production management was in the hands of Hans Speer . It is an Elton film that was released by Constantin Filmverleih .

The film premiered on September 13, 1951 in Stuttgart . The film ran in Austria under the title Veronika, the maid in January 1952 and was shown again in cinemas on October 1, 1960.

criticism

“An unhappily married, betrayed industrialist's son finds love and happiness in a simple mountain farmer. A stencil-like melodrama with the cliché of a female figure who unites quiet tolerance, closeness to nature, sensuality and motherliness in a cinematic way ”.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Alfred Bauer : German feature film Almanach. Volume 2: 1946-1955 , p. 233
  2. ↑ What the heart commands. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used