White daisies

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Movie
German title White daisies
Original title Elena et les Hommes
Country of production France , Italy
original language French
Publishing year 1956
length 95 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Jean Renoir
script Jean Renoir,
Jean Serge
production Louis Wipf
music Joseph Kosma
camera Claude Renoir
cut Borys Lewin
occupation
synchronization

White daisies , also known as Elena and the Men (original title: Elena et les Hommes ), is a 1956 French - Italian drama film directed by Jean Renoir . Ingrid Bergman , Jean Marais and Mel Ferrer can be seen in the leading roles .

action

Elena Sokorowska, the elegant widow of a Polish count, lives in Paris at the end of the 19th century , where she has numerous admirers. In order to be able to finance her luxurious lifestyle, she wants to marry the far older industrialist Martin-Michaud. On July 14th, the French national holiday, she met Count Henri de Chevincourt during a parade. Shortly afterwards he introduces her to the popular General Rollan, who has just been appointed Minister of War. Since Elena is convinced that white daisies bring luck, she wants to give Rollan one. He takes the flower and hopes to see Elena again soon. He is then accompanied by a lady named Paulette Escoffier, who quickly takes the daisy from his hand and throws it away. Elena and Henri spend the rest of the evening in the crowded streets of Paris celebrating with the people. They get closer in a wine tavern. When Henri wants to visit her the next day, he learns that Elena is no longer in Paris because she has moved to Martin-Michaud's castle.

When a balloon with French spies crashes on German territory, the French army is said to be getting ready to fight the Germans. In order to guarantee a victory, the strong leadership Rollan should become president. Since Rollan was very impressed by Elena at their meeting, Elena should persuade him to seek the highest office in the state. When Henri learns that Elena is not yet married to Martin-Michaud, he sees a chance to win Elena's heart after all. He looks for her in her fiancé's castle and manages to get her to visit Rollan at the front together. Rollan is delighted to see Elena hand him another daisy.

Elena Rollan wants to speak privately at a company in the castle. While she tries to persuade him to want to be president, he starts kissing her. Henri eventually becomes jealous and interrupts their togetherness. Both men begin to duel, until suddenly Paulette appears and asks Rollan to travel to Paris immediately to attend an important session of parliament. There he demands that the Germans be given an ultimatum. You should immediately release the French spies; otherwise one would want to march in. A man in the audience protested loudly that such an ultimatum would risk France's security. Soon, however, it was announced in the newspapers that the spies had been released thanks to Rollan. Rollan is cheered and from then on always wears a daisy on his jacket. When Henri and Elena go to the opera together, Elena is disappointed that Henri, unlike Rollan, has no visions and prefers to indulge in the sweet life.

Since the incumbent president sees his position in danger, he removes Rollan from the office of Minister of War and has him transferred to an insignificant regiment. Paulette, who has always been against Rollan's political ambitions, wants to take the opportunity to marry Rollan and finally have him to herself. Again she throws away his daisy. With the presidential elections approaching, Rollan is placed under arrest for 30 days. Elena then secretly arrives at his actual accommodation. She wants him to march to Paris with his regiment. Through her maid Lolotte and the soldier Hector, Rollan receives one of Elena's daisies, which encourages him to break out of his detention room and meet Elena. He confesses his love to her and, contrary to her ideas, would rather forego power and rank for her. Finally, Henri wants to disturb their togetherness again, but is tied up by Rollan's loyal men. However, the gypsy Miarka can free him.

Meanwhile, Rollan was elected as the new president. The people gather in front of his window and cheer him. Disguised as a gypsy, he is now supposed to sneak past the police and return to Paris. To distract the crowds, Henri and Elena, disguised as Rollan, pretend they are kissing in front of the window. When Rollan wants to drive to Paris in a horse-drawn carriage, Paulette is also in it and hugs him happily. Meanwhile, Miarka sings a love song to which the people listen reverently. The men and women embrace and kiss. The mood rubs off on Elena and Henri, who is wearing Rollan's uniform including daisies, and they really kiss.

background

Ermenonville Castle , where the film was set

The historical background of the story is the life of General Georges Ernest Boulanger , who was the godfather for General Rollan in the film. In 1886, Georges Ernest Boulanger had planned a coup, for which he was convicted in absentia. He committed suicide in his Belgian exile.

The shooting took place from December 1955 to March 1956 in France. The interior shots were made in the Billancourt film studios near Paris . The town of Montfort-l'Amaury , the forests near Saint-Cloud and the castle and park of Ermenonville served as the exterior backdrop. The costumes were designed by Rosine Delamare .

White daisies premiered in Paris on September 12, 1956. The film was released in German cinemas on November 28, 1958. On August 28, 1971, it was shown for the first time on GDR television on DFF 1 .

Reviews

The lexicon of international films described the film as "a brilliantly designed and played painting from the time before the turn of the century, which tells its opulently furnished story in confusing detail". Director Jean Renoir staged the film "[a] mussant and funny, even if not without sentimentality". According to the Protestant film observer , against the backdrop of France's Belle Époque, the white daisies “show the inadequacy of all human existence”. However, the “film that is captivating in its form” pays homage to “a materialistic mindset that leaves no room for ethical values”. The film is therefore “only suitable for viewers who are 16 and older”.

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times criticized the film for making no sense. Everything is "confusing", starting with the "complete obscurity of the script" to the star cast. The fact that Jean Renoir appeared as a director was "particularly curious". It is not understandable how such a "fiasco" could have come about. The majority of the actors play "terrible". Renoir apparently could not decide whether it was "a romantic drama or a slapstick farce".

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times found on the occasion of a re-release of the film in 1987 that White Daisies are primarily about “Bergman's unusual eroticism” and how her face in the film radiates “an inner light”. There are “serious undertones” in the film, but, as François Truffaut also noted in a review, the film is “about sex, not politics”. With the final scene, Renoir had achieved a “masterpiece”. For the film critic Leonard Maltin , White Marguerites were an average film that was enhanced by “Claude Renoir's exquisite camera work”. The film was in part "overrated" and far removed from Renoir's or Bergman's best works.

German version

role actor Voice actor
Elena Sokorowska Ingrid Bergman Tilly Lauenstein
General François Rollan Jean Marais Siegmar Schneider
Count Henri de Chevincourt Mel Ferrer Arnold Marquis
Hector Jean Richard Horst Niendorf
Martin-Michaud Pierre Bertin Wolfgang Eichberger
Rosa la Rose Dora Doll Gisela Trowe
Gaudin Frédéric Duvallès Konrad Wagner
Duchêne Jacques Morel Wolf Martini
Buchez Albert Rémy Franz-Otto Kruger
Lionel Villaret Jean Claudio Herbert Stass
Lisbonne Jacques Hilling Clemens Hasse
Eugène Martin-Michaud Jacques Jouanneau Wolfgang Gruner
Leader of the gypsies Gaston Modot Robert Klupp
Stroller Claire Gérard Lilli Schoenborn

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ White daisies. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 27, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Protestant film observer . Evangelical Press Association Munich, Critique No. 80/1957.
  3. ^ “Everything about it is bewildering, from the utter obscurity of the script to the presence of Ingrid Bergman, Mel Ferrer and Jean Marais as stars. And the fact that Jean Renoir was its director is the ultimate oddity. How this fiasco could have happened is difficult to explain. [...] Even so, there is no explanation for the horrible acting done by most of the frantic performers [...]. It appears that M. Renoir was undecided whether this was a romantic drama or a slapstick farce. " Bosley Crowther : Screen: French Import; Parisian Film Shown at the Paramount . In: The New York Times , March 30, 1957.
  4. ↑ “The movie is about something else - about Bergman's rare eroticism, and the way her face seems to have an inner light on film. […] Although the movie has serious undertones […], Truffaut was right that it is about sex, not politics. [...] The closing scene is a masterpiece. " Roger Ebert : Elena and Her Men . In: Chicago Sun-Times , February 3, 1987.
  5. ↑ “Claude Renoir's exquisite cinematography highlights this otherwise so-so account […]. Overrated by some; far from Renoir's (or Bergman's) best. " Leonard Maltin : Leonard Maltin's 2002 Movie & Video Guide . Plume, 2001, p. 1039.
  6. ↑ White daisies. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing index , accessed on October 27, 2019 .