FILM OF THE WEEK
INTERVIEW | Diehl, Schwarz and Mueller-Stahl lined up for Heinrich Breloer's 'Buddenbrooks' |
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| Written by the editor | |
| Wednesday, 15 August 2007 | |
 Thomas Buddenbrook (Mark Waschke), Bethsy Buddenbrook (Iris Berben), Jean Buddenbrook (Armin Mueller-Stahl), Tony Buddenbrook (Jessica Schwarz) and Christian Buddenbrook (August Diehl), from left to right. Photo (c): Bavaria Film/Stefan Falke, all rights reserved.. Sumptuous historical pieces seem to be all the rage in Germany, with Hermine Huntgeburth directing a new adaptation of Fontane's Effi Briest with Julia Jentsch; Uli Edel directing the story of the Baader-Meinhof terrorist group with Moritz Bleibtreu and Martina Gedeck; Max Färberböck filming the WWII drama Anonyma - Eine Frau in Berlin with Sandra Hüller, Nina Hoss and Jördis Triebel; Margarethe von Trotta preparing a biopic of the medieval mystic Hildegard of Bingen and Franka Potente still waiting to don the tiara as the first and only female pope in Volker Schlöndorff's Die Päpstin (production has been delayed several times already). Once of the most famous German works of historical fiction (besides Effi Briest, of course) is Thomas Mann's first novel, The Buddenbrooks, and Warner Bros Germany is currently in production on a new adaptation to add one more film to the list.
The novel, first published in 1901, spans three generations of the bourgeois Buddenbrooks, a merchant family from the northern Hanseatic city of Lübeck. It focusses on the bourgeoisie's decadence and eventual downfall in the middle part of the nineteenth century. Like Effi Briest, the beloved classic has been adapted numerous times for both the TV and the big screen (the first time already in 1923), with the 2008 version to be directed by the experienced TV director Heinrich Breloer, who also co-wrote the screenplay with his longtime collaborator Horst Königstein. Filming is currently underway on location in Lübeck, with Augsburg and Cologne also on the itinerary. Buddenbrooks - Ein Geschäft von einiger Grösse, as the full title of the film project runs, will star veteran actor Armin Mueller-Stahl as Johann (Jean) Buddenbrook, and his Ich bin die Andere co-star August Diehl as his second son Christian Buddenbrook. Jessica Schwarz, the verboten poetess from Der rote Kakadu (The Red Cockatoo), will play Antonie (Tony) Buddenbrook, Christian's sister. Their older brother Thomas, one of the major figures of the novel, will be played by newcomer Mark Waschke, while Jean's wife and the children's mother, Bethsy, will be played by Iris Berben. The film will sail into German theatres by Christmas 2008. (source: european-films.net, updated 16/AUG/07 with the first official photo of the Buddenbrooks) |
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