We cellar children
Wir Kellerkinder is a black and white German feature film by and with Wolfgang Neuss from 1960, which satirically deals with the time of National Socialism and the post-war period in Germany and attempts to "make cabaret filmable". In addition to Neuss, the main roles are occupied by Karin Baal , Ingrid van Bergen , Jo Herbst and Wolfgang Gruner .
The title is based on the film Wir Wunderkinder (1958), on which Neuss was also involved. The premiere of Wir Kellerkinder took place on June 26, 1960 on Bayerischer Rundfunk . It opened in theaters on October 6, 1960.
action
West Germany in 1959: A reporter from the “Neue Deutsche Schau” (a weekly newsreel ) is asked by his boss to look for pictures from the archive of the swastika smearings that the Minister of the Interior intends to address in a speech . One has to realize, however, that such recordings only exist in the East , but not in the West archives. The interior minister's film advisor also urges that the problem be addressed in terms of coming to terms with the past . In order not to be embarrassed, the reporter Kemskorn and the cameraman Keschke are instructed to reproduce the relevant images . The whole day the two are looking unsuccessfully for a passerby who can smear a swastika on a wall for a few marks. Late in the evening in front of a jazz bar they run into three men, Macke, Arthur and Adalbert, accompanied by a young girl. And Macke wants to respond to the weekly newsreel offer. A swastika is smeared on the window of a restaurant. When a police car approaches, everyone has to flee to the shelter of the Jazzkeller , except for Nenne, the girl who walks on the street. In the jazz cellar, Macke then tells of his life, which he mainly spent in cellars, and why he marked his father's bar with a swastika.
As a child during the Nazi era in Berlin, he discovered the blessings of the cellar vault. Because Macke was a member of the Jungvolk and an enthusiastic drummer , the basement became his practice room. From 1938 he hid the communist Knösel from the Nazis, of all places , in his air raid shelter, which included local group leader Glaubke and Macke's father, a little careerist who rose to become a block warden . Macke and Knösel survived the war in their hiding place and later the cellar served as a refuge for Macke's father, who is wanted by the police as a former Nazi. Here Macke annoys his father year after year with drummer practice lessons, as he plans to become a professional jazz musician .
One day Knösel shows up to refresh memories in the cellar. Macke's strange behavior irritates him. Because in the back of the basement hiding place is Macke's father. The confrontation between the two is inevitable, in the end Macke receives slaps in the face from both sides, both from his old friend Knösel and his father, as he is both considered a traitor to their respective cause. The ideological game of hide and seek and confusion brought Macke to the madhouse shortly afterwards, where he befriended two fellow sufferers. In their free time, the three of them play jazz together and want to stay together after their release. Toilet man Adalbert traded in Nazi medals and decorations and was held to be the reincarnation of Hitler because of his mustache until he only allowed men to use the toilet who offered him the “German greeting” . Arthur is a passionate jazz pianist, but had his problems with it in the GDR; so he flew out of the Theater der Courage in Cottbus. All three are to be released from the loony bin when they can freely prove that they are fully cured. Two free sessions, to which the three go to Munich and Cottbus by order of the institution director Prof. Nürn, fail, however. Because Adalbert suffers two serious relapses when he performs as a Hitler revenant both in the Hofbräuhaustoilette in Munich and in the Cottbus theater. In Cottbus, Macke met Knösel again, who is now head of cultural affairs, and to his great surprise also ex-Nazi Glaubke, who works as a director and is married to Macke's sister Almut.
On the third release - it leads to Berlin - everything soon seems to dissolve in favor. Macke's father has opened a thriving bar called Fata Morgana and has prepared a jazz room for his son in the basement across the street. The triple combo plays in the jazz cellar, the atmosphere is great, the champagne flows freely. Knösel appears in between. Macke learns that the disappointed ex-communist now lives in Cologne and has already written several books about pseudo -communism . A discord arises when a friend of Macke's father, butcher master Zörrl, absolutely demands the Badenweiler March and sits himself on the drums. Thereupon the bar empties in a short time, the young people seek the distance. There is a dispute between Zörrl and the antique dealer Briel, Nenne's father. Briel protests against the desecration of Hitler's memory. After this appearance, including the Hitler salute, Nenne saved her father from being brought in with great difficulty, while Adalbert was able to keep himself under control. Prof. Nuremberg's assistant Dr. Tanobren, who accompanies and supervises the trio, issues his placet: the test has been passed. Everyone is relieved and wants to take a walk. The two weekly newsreels then appear on the street.
Macke's story ends. Shortly afterwards, the police who had stopped Nenne on the street knock on the cellar door. And so the three of them soon find themselves back in the madhouse, while the film by Kemskorn and Keschke finds no interest, is passed on by the Minister of the Interior and carelessly thrown away in the end.
background
Contrary to current business practice, Neuss had his film, which was produced with only 300,000 marks, broadcast on television before it opened in cinemas, thus provoking a boycott of the film on the part of West German cinema operators . However, it was possible to win some cinemas for the film, where it was shown successfully. The case had drawn wider circles after the Stella film distributor denounced the boycott of cinema owners at the Federal Cartel Office , citing a Spiegel article. Thereupon the Cartel Office directed a request to the then "Central Association of German Film Theaters eV" (ZdF) under threat of a fine of up to 50,000 marks. The boycott was finally lifted under pressure from the Cartel Office.
Irrespective of the dispute or especially through the public discussion, Wir Kellerkinder was a success. The Wiesbaden Film Evaluation Office awarded “with pleasure” the rating “Valuable” and critics praised “the dashing, the inner truthfulness, the educational impetus and, last but not least, the stylish cabaret”.
Locations
The outdoor scenes around the Jazzkeller and the Fata Morgana Bar opposite were filmed in Berlin-Kreuzberg on Friesenstrasse, as a shot with a street sign reveals. The exact filming locations can still be easily found today using the image information: The entrance to the Jazzkeller was accordingly in the house with number 4 (possibly a mere application on the outer facade of the house, which today does not have such a basement access). House No. 24 directly opposite, however, provided the backdrop for the bar.
Web links
- We Cellar Children in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- We basement children at filmportal.de
- Macke In: DER SPIEGEL, issue 48/1960, 23 November 2011
- Wir Kellerkinder Original film poster at filmposter-archiv.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 5: L - N. Rudolf Lettinger - Lloyd Nolan. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 653.
- ↑ a b "Macke". In: Der Spiegel, issue 48/1960, 23 November 2011
- ↑ "TV movie: One came through". In: Der Spiegel , issue 38/1960, September 14, 1960, pp. 69f.
- ↑ "Later in the cinema". In: Der Spiegel , issue 15/1963, April 14, 1963, p. 94.