Ernst Thälmann is a two-part television film by DEFA from 1986. It was first broadcast on February 7, 1986 on GDR television, DFF. It is on the life of German Communist leader, Ernst Thälmann (who in the Weimar years was the head of the ticket for the German Communist Party-KPD, and was executed on Adolf Hitler's order, 1944).[1][2]
| Ernst Thälmann | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Biopic |
| Screenplay by | Otto Bonhoff Georg Schiemann Erich Selbmann |
| Directed by | Ursula Bonhoff Georg Schiemann |
| Starring | Helmut Schellhardt Christine Schorn Günther Grabbert Peter Sodann |
| Music by | Karl-Ernst Sasse |
| Country of origin | East Germany |
| Original language | German |
| No. of episodes | 2 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 4 hours |
| Production company | DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme |
| Original release | |
| Network | Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF) |
| Release | February 7, 1986 |
Plot and production
edit
The biographical film spans May 1, 1929, the Blutmai, on which police shot at demonstrating Berlin workers, to February 7, 1933, the day on which the meeting of the Central Committee of the KPD took place in Sporthaus Ziegenhals, where Thälmann appeared as a speaker for the last time. [3] Filming began in 1984 and took place in Görlitz and Wuppertal.[4]
Cast
edit- Helmut Schellhardt: Ernst Thälmann
- Christine Schorn: Rosa Thälmann
- Günther Grabbert: Wilhelm Pieck
- Peter Sodann: John Schehr
- Marian Kociniak: Marcel Cachin
- Hartmut Beer: Maurice Thorez
- Maxi Biewer: nurse
- Jürgen Reuter: Adolf Hitler
- Hans-Joachim Hegewald: Hermann Göring
- Arno Wyzniewski: Joseph Goebbels
Reception
editThe film received numerous awards from the East German authorities. Helmut Schellhardt received the First Class prize, "for his outstanding achievements as an actor, especially for his portrayal of Ernst Thälmann", for the National Prize of East Germany in 1986. The following cast members also received the First Class prize for the National Prize in 1986: Otto Bonhoff, Ursula Bonhoff, Hans-Jürgen Faschina, Georg Schiemann, Erich Seibmann.[5][6] Other cast and production members, including film composer Karl-Ernst Sasse, won Second Class prizes for their contributions.[7][8]
Recent reception has been more critical:
Historically inaccurate, incomplete and already anachronistic heroic epic at the time of its creation, which was treated by the SED party leadership as a main and state action.
— --Lexicon of international film[de:Lexikon des internationalen Films][9]
External links
edit- Ernst Thälmann at IMDb
- Ernst Thälmann (1985); Ausführliche Inhaltsangabe fernsehenderddr.de]
References
edit- ^ "Ernst Thälmann, part 1, Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft" (PDF). December 2013.
- ^ Release certificate, DEFA 'Ernst Thälmann'. Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft, Dezember 2013 (PDF; second part) Ernst Thälmann
- ^ File: Vote Thälmann! Lettering Görlitz Bergstraße.jpg|mini|Lettering from the Ernst Thälmann film; Görlitz, Bergstrasse
- ^ "Filmliste Wuppertal 'Filming in Wuppertal for cinema and TV productions and documentaries" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-12-23 – via Filmstadt Wuppertal.
- ^ List of winners of the National Prize of the GDR 1st Class for Art and Literature
- ^ Neues Deutschland, October 7, 1986, page 4, listing of National Prize of the DDR awardees
- ^ List of winners of the National Prize of the GDR 2nd Class for Art and Literature (1980–1989)
- ^ Neues Deutschland, October 7, 1986, page 4, listing of National Prize of the DDR awardees
- ^ Ernst Thälmann at Lexikon des internationalen Films