BRECHT, B.: Baal (Film, 2004)
Composer: Biehler, Oli
Baal
Author: Brecht, Bertolt
Television Director: Janson, Uwe
Schweighofer, Matthias
Aleardi, Pasquale
Schmid, Rike
Hagen, Sheri
Warmuth, Heike
Bruggemann, Anna
Bruch, Volker
Piesk, Bernhard
Wanner, Hyun
Jurgens, Steffen
Maticevic, Misel
Andi:
Wanner, Hyun
Baal:
Schweighofer, Matthias
Bernie:
Piesk, Bernhard
Ekart:
Aleardi, Pasquale
Emilie:
Schmid, Rike
Johanna:
Bruggemann, Anna
Johannes:
Bruch, Volker
Luise:
Warmuth, Heike
Mach:
Jurgens, Steffen
Piler:
Maticevic, Misel
Sophie:
Hagen, Sheri
Year of Production: 2004
Playing Time: 01:46:09
Catalogue Number: THE10119
UPC: 4280000101198
A film by Uwe Janson
Baal is young, Baal is hungry, he burns in disunity and the need for rebellion, upheaval, controversy. A battle between absolute numbness and overpowering aliveness. Baal's eagerness to live is not just a victim of women, patrons, critics, admirers and his best friend, but ultimately Baal himself. Uwe Janson's adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's classic is a wild hymn of self-love with a congenial Matthias Schweighofer in the lead role.
Uwe Janson recounts the Baal with young actors, without denying the theatrical origin. In the montage of the image sequences, the film follows an emotional, dynamic staging that dares to tell a contemporary Baal without betraying the original Baal.
Bertolt Brecht's earliest drama has remained his most recent, his wildest. Baal tells of a young artist, who is traded by society as a genius, but does not want to get involved by an art and business enterprise. Baal polarizes, shakes and inflames equally. The piece is a rejection of indifference and leveling of man, a wild eulogy of self-love. The text is compiled from the three Brechtian Baal versions and transformed into a scenic contrast. Filming locations were Berlin and the forest in Markische Schweiz near Buckow.
Baal, congenially embodied by Matthias Schweighofer, experienced an acclaimed premiere at the 2004 Berlinale. At the 40th Baden-Baden TV-Game Festival, the jury honored actor Matthias Schweighofer for his outstanding performance.
Wolfgang Bergmann
