Cinema of the World

major-3 @ IMDB wrote:
"Deserves to have a comeback"

German humour in the 50s and 60s? Oh, yeah, let's have a laugh about it! Sadly, it's true, during the 50s and 60s one could only seek and not find humour and art in German films. At least those who were striving for it didn't really stand a chance, as the so-called "Heimatfilm" was Box-Offing everyone else.
Still, there were exceptions. Like director Helmut Käutner who, from "Große Freiheit Nr.7" which was banned by the Nazis despite starring the times biggest star Hans Albers, to "Die letzte Brücke", which turned Maria Schell into an international celebrity, had shown his individualism and never gave in to the comfy no-style of the Adenauer era.

"Das Glas Wasser" turns out, in retrospect, to be one of his best, if most neglected, pictures. It was not a success at the time of its release precisely of its qualities. At that time everybody in Germany wanted to be told how great it is to live in this country, after all, those who had survived had managed the "Wirtschaftswunder", and that corruption may have played a part in it was something nobody wanted to hear and that a "royal" (like Adenauer) could fail was out of the question. But "Das Glas Wasser" is neither comforting nor wholesome, in fact it it is cynic, or if one prefers, realistic, depicting Queen Anne as a naive and indecisive non-entity while the Countess of Marlborough and the Viscount of Bolingbroke fight it out among themselves. Definitely not a message the Germans wanted at that time. Nevertheless a film only proves its quality by the test of time, and "Das Glas Wasser" holds up very well indeed.

The credit goes, not in the least, to the actors. Gustaf Gründgens and Hilde Krahl, the german/austrian equivalents of Laurence Olivier and Katharine Hepburn, turn each line into a battlefield of wit, and to watch them is not only a joy but also a lesson in comic timing that Jim Carrey should cherish. And Liselotte Pulver, a German Mega-Star at that time (until then not known for subtle characterizations) turns in a surprisingly subtle, witty and emotional performance as hapless Queen Anne. Finally –surprise, surprise – even Horst Janson (Masham) and Sabine Sinjen (Abigail), as the lovers, stick to memory – not a bad feat in this kind of film, that grants the best lines to the leading actors.

Still it's Helmut Käutner's direction which provides the perfect surroundings. He obviously knew from the beginning that realistic art design would destroy the lofty architecture of Eugène Scribe's play. So he decided on a completely artificial look (no exteriors, flashbacks in black/white). The Queen's chambers are always shown in blinding white, as is the Queen, while the Countess of Marlborough is usually dressed in the opposing colours black and dark red, and the innocent Abigail is dressed in green, the colour of hope (and innocence). Bolingbroke‘s (as the communicator) clothes always fit into the picture and therefore he never seems to stand out. Mashams red uniform obviously turns on all the ladies and makes proceedings so difficult. Besides the artistry so obviously inherent in the picture, people turned their backs to the movie. Seeing it today one cannot help but thinking that, whether knowingly or unwittingly, Käutner had dissected his country at the time (thereby fulfilling Scribe's intentions of exposing human corruption and hypocrisy through satire) and thus alienated it. But whatever the intention, he managed to produce the only really funny German movie.
















http://filepost.com/files/31ad4e78/Das Glas Wasser_(Helmut Käutner, 1960).avi/

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1810026841/Das Glas Wasser_(Helmut Käutner, 1960).avi

German audio, no subtitles
no pass