Münchhausen (film)

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Münchhausen
Directed by Josef von Báky
Produced by Eberhard Schmidt
Written by Gottfried August Bürger
Erich Kästner
Rudolph Erich Raspe
Starring Hans Albers
Wilhelm Bendow
Music by Georg Haentzschel
Cinematography Konstantin Irmen-Tschet
Werner Krien
Distributed by Universum Film A.G. (Ufa)
Release date(s) March 3, 1943
Running time 105 mins
119 mins (restored version)
Country Flag of Germany Germany
Language German
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Münchhausen is a 1943 fantasy comedy film directed by Josef von Báky, a prominent director who remained in Germany under the Nazi regime. Despite being made in Nazi Germany, this film is noted for the way in which it was able to avoid the politics of the time. Science Fiction author David Wingrove has commented that this work "sidesteps immediate political issues whilst conjuring up marvellous visual images of an ageless pastoral Germany."

Contents

[edit] Summary

The story follows the life of Baron Hieronymus von Münchhausen who was granted immortality by a sorcerer some 200 years previously. Here he recounts to a group of friends tales of his travels through Russia, his encounter with a man who could run more than 200 miles per hour, and a ring he was given which would make him invisible. His story culminates in his recounting a trip to the moon where he meets headless plant people.

[edit] History

Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels ordered the production of Münchhausen in order to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Ufa film studio which released it. A banned author, Erich Kästner, wrote much of the film's screenplay. However, the pseudonym Kästner wrote under, “Berthold Bürger” (Bürger means “citizen”, but also refers to one of the writers who made the Münchhausen tales popular), was left out of the credits. Maybe it slipped from the censor's attention or it was left in the movie for good, there is one surprisingly clear political statement of Kästner to be heard in the film: on the moon, where Münchhausen experiences a quite weird time warp, he realizes "Nicht meine Uhr ist kaputt, die Zeit ist kaputt!" (My watch is not broken, it's time (meaning "era") that's broken).

Some of the film's footage is now missing. In March 1943 on release the film was 134 minutes long. Over the years the length of the film gradually decreased until the 1954 version, which was 101 minutes long (with the generally screened version being a mere 88 minutes). Today a 114-minute version exists in the Murnau Foundation.

Münchhausen was the third feature film made in Germany using the new Agfacolor negative-positive material.

[edit] Cast

Actor Role
Hans Albers Baron Münchhausen
Wilhelm Bendow Der Mondmann
Brigitte Horney Zarin Katharina II
Michael Bohnen Herzog Karl von Braunschweig
Ferdinand Marian Graf Cagliostro
Hans Brausewetter Freiherr von Hartenfeld
Hermann Speelmans Christian Kuchenreutter
Marina von Ditmar Sophie von Riedesel
Andrews Engelmann Fürst Potemkin
Käthe Haack Baronin Münchhausen
Waldemar Leitgeb Fürst Grigorij Orlow
Walter Lieck Der Läufer
Hubert von Meyerinck Prinz Anton Ulrich
Jaspar von Oertzen Graf Lanskoi
Werner Scharf Prinz Francesco d'Este
Armin Schweizer Johann
Leo Slezak Sultan Abd ul Hamid

[edit] Availability

A 110-minute version of this film was released on DVD by Kino Video on July 20, 2004. [1]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Wingrove, David. Science Fiction Film Source Book (Longman Group Limited, 1985)
  • In Joseph Joffo's book 'Un Sac de Billes,' the protagonist/author sees the film and labels it as Nazi propaganda

[edit] External links


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