By Anjelica Oswald
Managing Editor
Bill Clinton likes a good movie.
A self-declared film buff, the former president has most recently endorsed the Netflix documentary Virunga and Ava DuVernay’s Selma.
According to a 2014 study by The Wall Street Journal, NBC News and the Annenberg Public Policy Center, an endorsement from Clinton makes political candidates appear to be 38 percent more favorable among voters. But does this effect carry over to his movie choices?
Some think yes and other think no, but regardless of the effects, Clinton has offered his praise for many films throughout the year.
Clinton made a surprise appearance at the New York Museum of Arts and Design’s Virunga screening on Jan. 31, along with his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The documentary, executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, follows a team of park rangers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Virunga National Park as...
Managing Editor
Bill Clinton likes a good movie.
A self-declared film buff, the former president has most recently endorsed the Netflix documentary Virunga and Ava DuVernay’s Selma.
According to a 2014 study by The Wall Street Journal, NBC News and the Annenberg Public Policy Center, an endorsement from Clinton makes political candidates appear to be 38 percent more favorable among voters. But does this effect carry over to his movie choices?
Some think yes and other think no, but regardless of the effects, Clinton has offered his praise for many films throughout the year.
Clinton made a surprise appearance at the New York Museum of Arts and Design’s Virunga screening on Jan. 31, along with his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The documentary, executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, follows a team of park rangers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Virunga National Park as...
- 2/6/2015
- by Anjelica Oswald
- Scott Feinberg
Film review: 'The Harmonists'
This German import details the fascinating story of the Comedian Harmonists, the six-member vocal group (three of whom were Jewish) whose enormous popularity in Germany before World War II didn't prevent their dissolution by the Nazis as part of the party's goal to ban "degenerate art."
A moving, informative account of the Harmonists' rise and fall, the film is part of a renewed wave of interest in the legendary group, whose story is also the subject of two stage productions. Miramax should see good results from the film on the art house circuit.
Told in traditional biopic style, "The Harmonists" illustrates how the group was formed by 20-year-old drama student Harry Frommermann (Ulrich Noethen) in 1927. Inspired by the success of an American a capella group, Frommermann placed an ad in the papers and found four other singers and a pianist to join him.
The Harmonists, who applied their intricate vocal harmonies to everything from German folk songs to American jazz standards, were an instant success in Germany and quickly achieved great popularity internationally as well. All was fine until the rise to power of the Nazis, who would allow them to continue only if they jettisoned the Jewish members. Their final performance in Germany was in 1934, and though the various members attempted to regroup over the years, the magic was never regained.
Klaus Richter's screenplay begins in amusing fashion, detailing the evolution of the group's musical style and the difficulties that resulted from the merging of such disparate personalities. Rich in incident, it wisely avoids melodrama even when it depicts their travails with the Nazis. The only area in which the film falters is in its apparently fictional depiction of the members' personal lives, including a melodramatic romantic triangle that develops between two of the singers and a beautiful young Jewish student (Meret Becker).
Director Joseph Vilsmaier otherwise handles the complicated subject matter in excellent fashion, providing a vivid sense of the period and the cultural milieu in which the Harmonists thrived. Particularly entertaining is the segment detailing the group's trip to America, where they achieved great success in New York (depicted through a combination of location shooting and period footage). One of the more moving moments comes when the group argues over whether they should stay in America or return to Germany; sadly, they made the wrong decision.
"The Harmonists", unlike the Broadway treatment, skillfully delineates the character of each of the singers in the group. Particular credit must go to the performers, who handle their own singing. Besides providing evocative portrayals, they replicate the sound of the original Harmonists with elegant precision.
THE HARMONISTS
Miramax Films
Director/executive producer: Joseph Vilsmaier
Screenwriter: Klaus Richter
Producers: Hanno Huth, Reinhard Kloos, Danny Krausz
Director of photography: Joseph Vilsmaier
Editor: Peter R. Adam
Original score: Harald Kloser
Production designer: Rolf Zehetbauer
Color/stereo
Cast:
Robert Biberti: Ben Becker
Roman Cycowski: Heino Ferch
Harry Frommermann: Ulrich Noethen
Erich A. Collin: Heinrich Schafmeister
Ari Leschnikoff: Max Tidof
Erwin Bootz: Kai Wiesinger
Erna Eggstein: Meret Becker
Running time -- 114 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
A moving, informative account of the Harmonists' rise and fall, the film is part of a renewed wave of interest in the legendary group, whose story is also the subject of two stage productions. Miramax should see good results from the film on the art house circuit.
Told in traditional biopic style, "The Harmonists" illustrates how the group was formed by 20-year-old drama student Harry Frommermann (Ulrich Noethen) in 1927. Inspired by the success of an American a capella group, Frommermann placed an ad in the papers and found four other singers and a pianist to join him.
The Harmonists, who applied their intricate vocal harmonies to everything from German folk songs to American jazz standards, were an instant success in Germany and quickly achieved great popularity internationally as well. All was fine until the rise to power of the Nazis, who would allow them to continue only if they jettisoned the Jewish members. Their final performance in Germany was in 1934, and though the various members attempted to regroup over the years, the magic was never regained.
Klaus Richter's screenplay begins in amusing fashion, detailing the evolution of the group's musical style and the difficulties that resulted from the merging of such disparate personalities. Rich in incident, it wisely avoids melodrama even when it depicts their travails with the Nazis. The only area in which the film falters is in its apparently fictional depiction of the members' personal lives, including a melodramatic romantic triangle that develops between two of the singers and a beautiful young Jewish student (Meret Becker).
Director Joseph Vilsmaier otherwise handles the complicated subject matter in excellent fashion, providing a vivid sense of the period and the cultural milieu in which the Harmonists thrived. Particularly entertaining is the segment detailing the group's trip to America, where they achieved great success in New York (depicted through a combination of location shooting and period footage). One of the more moving moments comes when the group argues over whether they should stay in America or return to Germany; sadly, they made the wrong decision.
"The Harmonists", unlike the Broadway treatment, skillfully delineates the character of each of the singers in the group. Particular credit must go to the performers, who handle their own singing. Besides providing evocative portrayals, they replicate the sound of the original Harmonists with elegant precision.
THE HARMONISTS
Miramax Films
Director/executive producer: Joseph Vilsmaier
Screenwriter: Klaus Richter
Producers: Hanno Huth, Reinhard Kloos, Danny Krausz
Director of photography: Joseph Vilsmaier
Editor: Peter R. Adam
Original score: Harald Kloser
Production designer: Rolf Zehetbauer
Color/stereo
Cast:
Robert Biberti: Ben Becker
Roman Cycowski: Heino Ferch
Harry Frommermann: Ulrich Noethen
Erich A. Collin: Heinrich Schafmeister
Ari Leschnikoff: Max Tidof
Erwin Bootz: Kai Wiesinger
Erna Eggstein: Meret Becker
Running time -- 114 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 3/10/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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