FRIEDEMANN BACH (director: Traugott Müller; screenwriters: based on the novel by Albert Emil Brachvogels/story by Ludwig Metzger/Helmut Brandis/Eckart von Naso; cinematographer: Walter Pindter; editor: Alexandra Anatra; music: Mark Lothar; cast: Gustav Gründgens (Friedemann Bach), Leny Marenbach (Komtesse Antonia Kollowrat), Camilla Horn (Mariella Fiorini), Eugen Klöpfer(Johann Sebastian Bach), Johannes Riemann(Count Heinrich Graf von Brühl), Wolfgang Liebeneiner(Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach), Boris Alekin (Louis Marchand), Ernst Dernburg (King August III); Runtime: 7; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Gustav Gründgens; YouTube; 1941-Germany-in German with English subtitles)
“The film is based on the novel by Albert Emil Brachvogels.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The only film directed by the forty-something Traugott Müller, was shot in the Third Reich film. I saw the online free version on YouTube, that is cut down into only seven minutes from the original 102 minutes. It highlights only one scene in which Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (22 November 1710 – 1 July 1784), the second child and rebellious eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, is featured in a harpsichord competition in the Dresden house of nobles with French composer Louis Marchand, as he tries to escape from the shadow of his famous father and make his own success. Friedemann wins the competition when Marchand refuses to play and takes flight. Afterwards Count Heinrich Graf von Brühl introduces Friedemann to ballerina Mariella Fioriniand they become romantically linked.Friedemann writes a successful ballet for her and is then appointed court composer by Count von Brühl.
The piece played by Friedemann was from the “Fantasies of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach” and was performed by Conrad Hansen. The film is based on the novel by Albert Emil Brachvogels. The clip is too abbreviated to get a true gauge on its value, but by observing the stiffness of the performers I took the liberty of grading it a B.
REVIEWED ON 4/1/2012 GRADE: B
Dennis Schwartz: “Ozus’ World Movie Reviews”
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