Shadow Over The Islands (film)
Encyclopedia
Schatten über den Inseln (English-language title: Shadow Over The Islands) is an East German black-and-white film, directed by Otto Meyer. It was released in 1952.
, the people's only source of income is trapping a local breed of wild birds. The corrupt capitalist Mr. Brause exploits the locals, forcing them to work for a low wage while selling the birds with a high profit. A disease strikes the village, and many inhabitants become ill. A local physician, Dr. Stefan Horn, discoveres that the source of the sickness is the birds. He sends a telegram to a medical research institute in Copenhagen
. The scientists in the capital corroborate his suspicions. Brause destroys their letter and tells the villagers that they can continue with their trade. Eventually, Stefan and his cousin, Arne, manage to expose the truth before the people. Brause flees the islands.
, manifested in the new DEFA Commission of the SED's Politburo that oversaw the eponymous film studio, many productions were canceled or thoroughly censured to insure compliance with the state's ideological line. DEFA produced only six films during 1952. Under the influence of the nascent Cold War
, five of them contrasted the life in the Socialist Eastern Block with those in the West
. Among those, four dealt with the subject directly, while Shadow Over The Islands was an allegory, using the setting of a Faroese village for presenting the same theme.
Plot
In a small village on the Faroe IslandsFaroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
, the people's only source of income is trapping a local breed of wild birds. The corrupt capitalist Mr. Brause exploits the locals, forcing them to work for a low wage while selling the birds with a high profit. A disease strikes the village, and many inhabitants become ill. A local physician, Dr. Stefan Horn, discoveres that the source of the sickness is the birds. He sends a telegram to a medical research institute in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
. The scientists in the capital corroborate his suspicions. Brause destroys their letter and tells the villagers that they can continue with their trade. Eventually, Stefan and his cousin, Arne, manage to expose the truth before the people. Brause flees the islands.
Cast
- Erwin GeschonneckErwin GeschonneckErwin Geschonneck was a German actor. His biggest success occurred in the German Democratic Republic, where he was considered one of the most famous actors of the time.-Early life:...
as Dr. Sten Horn - Fritz DiezFritz DiezNot to be confused with the West German industrialist Fritz Dietz.Fritz Diez was a German actor, producer, director and theater manager.-Early life:...
as Arne Horn - Willy A. Kleinau as Bassen Brause
- Kriemhild Falke as Mette Horn
- Siegfried Weber as Thorsten Horn
- Lutz Götz as Dr. Jakobson
- Georg Kröning as Dr. Mattisson
- Hans Jungbauer as Mikkelson
- Ernst Kahler as Kanvala
- Walter B. Schulz as secretary Falberg
- Rudolf Wessely as secretary Palle
- Kurt Mühlhardt as police chief Almquist
- Herbert Richter as Magnus
- Gert Schäfer, as Per
- Hans Wehrl as Mac Tunck
Production
At 1952, the East German film industry sank to the lowest point in its history. Due to increasing supervision by the Socialist Unity PartySocialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
, manifested in the new DEFA Commission of the SED's Politburo that oversaw the eponymous film studio, many productions were canceled or thoroughly censured to insure compliance with the state's ideological line. DEFA produced only six films during 1952. Under the influence of the nascent Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, five of them contrasted the life in the Socialist Eastern Block with those in the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
. Among those, four dealt with the subject directly, while Shadow Over The Islands was an allegory, using the setting of a Faroese village for presenting the same theme.
Reception
Miera and Antonin Liehm cited Shadow over the Islands as an example to the East German films in which a positive hero - always with working-class background - was confronted by a negative one, which was mostly a former Nazi or a representative of the West, and often both. They concluded that at the time, "directors did not even try for anything than the simplest stories, filmed in the most straightforward ways. For instance... Shadow Over The Islands... Shows how capitalist merchants threaten the health of the people." Sylvia Klötzer shared this view, writing that the film was a typical example of the DEFA pictures produced during the early 1950s, with a schematic plot centered on an archetypical character with little depth. Author Udo Benzenhöfer, on the contrary, commented that the picture was a "realistic one, with many references to the broader issues of society."External links
- Schatten über den Inseln original 1952 poster on Ostfilm.de.