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-aera. "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 Saabine 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). Bolingbrokes (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 mov
