Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod
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| Gloomy Sunday - Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Rolf Schübel |
| Produced by | Richard Schöps |
| Written by | Ruth Toma Rolf Schübel |
| Starring | Erika Marozsán Joachim Król Ben Becker Rolf Becker Ilse Zielstorff Stefano Dionisi |
| Music by | Detlef Friedrich Petersen |
| Release date(s) | October 21, 1999 Germany |
| Running time | 108 min. |
| Country |  Germany |
| Language | German |
| IMDb profile | |
Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod (English: Gloomy Sunday - A Song of Love and Death) (1999) is a German and Hungarian co-production, filmed in German and starring German and Hungarian actors from various countries. Its Hungarian title is Szomorú Vasárnap.
Although the movie centers on a romantic love triangle with tragic consequences, it has a strong history background, set in World War II Hungary. The film is based on the novel by Nick Barkow, co-written and directed by Rolf Schübel and tells a fictional story about the creation of the infamous song Gloomy Sunday. Starring are Joachim Król (László, Jewish restaurant owner), Erika Marozsán (Ilona, waitress and László's lover), Stefano Dionisi (András, pianist who creates Gloomy Sunday) and Ben Becker (Hans Wieck, a German business man who becomes an SS officer).
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[edit] Plot summary
The film opens and closes in the modern era. A German patriarch returns to Budapest with his family on the occasion of his 80th birthday. During dinner at his old favourite restaurant, Szabo's, he collapses while the song Gloomy Sunday is being played.
Back in the late 1930s in Budapest the restaurant owner László Szabo hires the pianist András to play in his restaurant. András falls in love with László's lover and beautiful waitress Ilona who inspires András to write his only composition. The resulting song Gloomy Sunday is at first loved and then feared by the public for its melancholic melody, and triggers a series of suicides. For a while Ilona lives in harmony with both men. The German businessman Hans is a regular patron at the restaurant; he also falls in love with Ilona (with whom he shares his birthday) but she rejects him. He tries to commit suicide by jumping into a river, but László saves him and Hans returns to Germany.
After a few years Nazi Germany captures Budapest and Hans returns. He is now an SS officer and responsible for organizing the transport of Budapest's Jews to the concentration camps; however, he uses his position to save the wealthiest Jews (and allows them to secretly leave German Europe) in exchange for large "gifts" of goods and money.
András considers suicide after he discovers the effects of his song, but László takes a bottle of poison away from him. András does finally kill himself with Hans's pistol after Hans forces him to play the song in the restaurant. When László is rounded up, Ilona sleeps with Hans in return for his release, but Hans betrays them. The historical section of the film ends with the revelation of Ilona's pregnancy.
Back in the present, media reporters are paying tribute to the dead Hans, who is famed as a great industrialist. In the restaurant, Ilona is washing out the bottle of poison, while her son congratulates her on her birthday.
[edit] Awards
- German Screenplay Awards
- Best Screenplay
- Bavarian Film Awards
- Best Director
- Best Cinematography
[edit] Festival screenings
- The film has been showing at the Academy Arts Centre Theatre in Christchurch, New Zealand, since 2001.[1]. However, the film is not projected, but played from video disc, and the theatre has only about a dozen seats.
