Because you are poor, you have to die sooner
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Because you are poor, you have to die sooner |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1956 |
| length | 98 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Paul May |
| script |
Ernst von Salomon Kurt Wilhelm based on a magazine novel by Hans Gustl Kernmayr published in 1955 |
| production | Walter Traut for Divina-Film, Munich |
| music | Rolf A. Wilhelm |
| camera | Georg Bruckbauer |
| cut | Anneliese Schönnenbeck |
| occupation | |
| |
Because you are poor, you have to die sooner is a German feature film from 1956 by Paul May , which deals critically with the health and health insurance policy of the Adenauer era. Bernhard Wicki plays the leading role .
action
Federal Republic of Germany in the mid-1950s. The committed health insurance doctor Dr. Sometimes Grüter would like to do more for his patients than he can. But the inadequate health policy in many areas with its health insurance system at that time made it sometimes impossible for him to provide the needy patients with all the medical help that would be possible and necessary. Since the health insurers reject some medication that promises relief, but prescription-only medication, Grüter has to discover from day to day that there is a two-tier medicine.
The doctor could, for example, help Heinze, a worker who is seriously ill with his liver and who urgently needs a fresh cell treatment. But his health insurance company refuses to provide the necessary funds on the grounds that "It cannot be the task of statutory health insurance to cover the costs of therapeutic measures that have not yet been scientifically and clinically tested and recognized in terms of their value and effectiveness." for him: Because you are poor, you have to die earlier .
Based on Grüters, the film highlights the commendable commitment of the self-sacrificing doctors, who always have an open ear for their patients and even rush to the bedside of the moribund patients on foot, while the rich upper class of the economic miracle of the Federal Republic has no problems and with their luxury cars Chauffeured from bar to bar at night to have a good time. The doctor's sense of duty is also contrasted with the principle of the health insurance as a heartless, cold device. Their administration buildings are lordly palaces and their representatives are cool, calculating bureaucrats who do not care in the least about the well-being of the insured.
Production notes
The film was directed by the production company KG Divina GmbH & Co. produced. The company belonged to Ilse Kubaschewski , who was also the owner of the first distributor Gloria-Film GmbH & Co. Filmverleih KG . The outdoor shots were shot in Munich from January 30th to March 17th, 1956 . Eberhard Meichsner was in charge of production. The film structures were designed by Gabriel Pellon and Hans Jürgen Kiebach , Claudia Herberg was in charge of costume advice. Walter Boos served director May as his assistant.
For this film, director May relied on a number of familiar actors with whom he had shot his successful 08/15 trilogy immediately before (1954/55) : Hans-Christian Blech , Paul Bösiger , Peter Carsten , Hannes Schiel , Fritz Hintz-Fabricius , Robert Fackler , Edith Schultze-Westrum and Rudolf Rhomberg .
For the young brunette artist Hannelore Heimanns (November 30, 1935 - December 3, 1956) this was her only feature film, she died that same year in Cologne at the age of only 21.
The premiere took place on April 12, 1956 in the Lichtburg in Essen . In 1956, the distributor advertised the strip as the “bravest and most recent film of the year”; nevertheless, the strip was a commercial failure. Originally, as it is said in a Spiegel article from 1955 , the Gloria offered Veit Harlan this material for staging.
In view of the critical undertones with regard to social and medical conditions in the Federal Republic of Germany, the GDR authorities approved the film for showing in the GDR that same year. It started there on September 28, 1956.
Reviews
“The film 'Because you are poor, you have to die earlier' (based on the STERN novel by HG Kernmayr), which has now been premiered in Essen, tackles a real social problem: the reform of the health insurance is now being demanded from the screen. (...) What has harmed the film the most, is obviously this: It has been protected against too many objections and interest groups, slowed down by possibly false, business risk fear and not hit by a brilliant spark (directed by Paul May, the director of the 08 / 15 trilogy. The screenplay by Ernst von Salomon was completed by Kurt Wilhelm). It's a strange stylistic mix of 1925 Expressionism, Surrealism, and Realism that doesn't make a style. In addition a musical leitmotif, inspired by the 'Third Man'. - This important topic, the bitter professional dilemma of the doctors and the justified claims of the insured, would have needed a director with the claw of a lion, so that the justifiably accused would be afraid, while the disadvantaged would have the courage to defend themselves. After all, the film has highlighted the current grievances. "
“The 1956 Paul May film boldly grips a very topical hot potato. The disproportion between health insurance companies, doctors and health is being put up for discussion again. "
"In 1956 the director staged one of his better films with the socially committed drama 'Because you are poor, you have to die earlier'."
“At the time it was made, the film criticizes the shortcomings of statutory health insurance. (...) The film assigns its theme through thick polemics, demagoguery and psychological inconsistencies. "
Web links
- Because you are poor, you have to die sooner in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Because you are poor, you have to die earlier at filmportal.de