Welcome to Wellville
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Welcome to Wellville |
| Original title | The Road to Wellville |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1994 |
| length | 115 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Alan Parker |
| script | Alan Parker |
| production |
Armyan Bernstein Robert F. Colesberry Alan Parker |
| music | Rachel Portman |
| camera | Peter Biziou |
| cut | Gerry Hambling |
| occupation | |
| |
Wellville is an American comedy film from the year 1994 . The director Alan Parker wrote the script based on the novel of the same name by TC Boyle .
action
Cornflake producer John Harvey Kellogg opened the exclusive Battle Creek Sanitarium clinic at the beginning of the 20th century . Alcohol and cigarettes are strictly forbidden, as is meat consumption and sex. The patients are treated with strange devices and dubious methods.
Eleanor Lightbody, who has already visited the facility twice, persuades her husband, William, to undergo treatment. William suffers from severe stomach problems. He is skeptical and suffers from the treatment, which also appears dubious to him. He witnessed several deaths and rebelled against the regulations. In addition, he is plagued and hallucinated by strong sexual fantasies. He cannot resist various encounters with another patient, Ida Muntz, who openly invites him to have sex.
Meanwhile, a man named Charles Ossining tries to make corn flakes. This new invention originally came from JH Kellogg, but his brother, who sells the cereals under the same family name, is now the beneficiary of this invention. Countless manufacturers are now trying to copy the products, including ossining. His connections in the business are a nuisance, however: the business partner, whom he entrusted a large sum of money to build a factory, wastes it lightly and takes refuge in excuses. The subsequent search for a building ends in a dilapidated factory with pigs and rats running around. We succeed in winning a former Kellogg's employee over to the collaboration. However, he was not employed in the production, but in the stable and is clueless about the recipe. By chance, Ossining meets George, Kellogg's unloved adoptive son. He hired him to sell the flakes under the name Kellogg, which is the only one that promises success in the unmanageable industry. The production turns into a fiasco. Over twenty different recipes are tried, the results are not even touched by the pigs. Out of desperation, the company founders break into the flakes production at Kellogg's, steal masses of goods, which they transfer to their own boxes and sell.
Dubious healing methods are used by various doctors during this time. Eleanor meets Dr. Badger and Dr. Know pointed birds whose treatment concepts are based on sexual theories and practices. Badger is the author of a book about the clitoris, Spitzvogel has "invented" a method that he calls "manual handling". He uses this to describe the stimulation of the female genitals with his hand. Eleanor also lets Spitzvogel “treat” her.
Eleanor confesses to a friend from the sanatorium that she is responsible for her husband's illness. She also added opium to his drinks as a sleeping pill unnoticed, making him addicted. This is also the reason for her husband's hallucinations.
In a bar, William Lightbody meets Charles Ossining, whom he met on the train ride. The two get drunk. Lightbody issues a generous check to Ossining to get him out of his money problems. When Lightbody returns to the clinic, Kellogg realizes that William was drinking alcohol. William vomits on Kellogg's clothing. Kellogg looks at the vomit and finds that William was illegally eating meat.
Ossining is now being arrested by the police. His former partner broke the bill in the hotel and fled.
The sanatorium goes up in flames during a New Year's fireworks display. The unloved adopted son George set it on fire. The building burns down completely, the guests flee. With the excitement, Ossining can break free again. Kellogg forgives George and gives him a hug. Ossining later reoriented itself towards the production of a drink. He adds sugar and extracts of the coca plant in bulk to water. He's making a fortune with this drink he calls Cola. The clinic will be rebuilt later. With a dip in the water, John Harvey Kellogg wants to demonstrate how fit he is even at over seventy. During the jump he has a heart attack and dies.
Reviews
James Berardinelli wrote on ReelViews that the film was only amusing for the first half hour. The jokes can often be understood as “toilet humor”. The collaboration of Anthony Hopkins does not guarantee a good film as a result. The participation of Dana Carvey and John Cusack is "absolutely superfluous"; Matthew Broderick and Bridget Fonda are "hopelessly misplaced". Good actors like Colm Meaney and John Neville would only play minor supporting roles. The direction and the script are bad.
Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times on October 28, 1994 that he was not sure that the comedy would please everyone. He would like her.
Hal Hinson wrote in the Washington Post on October 28, 1994 that the film could make viewers "sick". It is more tasteless than the skits by Monty Python .
Peter Stack criticized in the San Francisco Chronicle of May 5, 1995 that the film had "little substance" and was bad despite the potential. Casting the role of John Harvey Kellogg with Anthony Hopkins is "inspired", but the script makes the character two-dimensional.
The lexicon of the international film criticized the "exuberant story with some coarseness, which can only with difficulty hold its individual narrative strands together with parallel montages and thereby loses elegance and speed."
Awards
Peter Biziou was nominated for the 1994 Best Cinematography Award of the British Society of Cinematographers nominated.
literature
- TC Boyle : Welcome to Wellville . Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-423-20905-2 (English: The road to Wellville . Translated by Anette Grube ).
Web links
- Wellville in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Welcome to Wellville at www.prisma.de
- Wellville at Rotten Tomatoes (English)