Ernst Lubitsch’s CARMEN Contents

Introduction 2 Greetings 4

The Movie Overview 6 Short bios 8 Contemporary Press Coverage 16

The Revival The Restoration 20 The Music 30

The Background Typification, Yes – Typism, No 36 Historical Background 38 The Publishers 42

Publishing Credits, Legal Notice, Picture Credits 46 On November 11, World War I abolished at the end of the war. The 1918 was an ended and with it the German Em- film was permitted to go wild. And it eventful year. pire. This meant not only the tempo- did. (...) Pola set the decorations aflut- rary end to strict Prussian morals, but ter with her frenzied dances. But she also – and likewise only temporarily – also got fame to Germany. For her- to film censorship, and paved the way self, for Ernst Lubitsch, for Ufa.“ (Der for the experiment of democracy and Spiegel 38/1950) the “Roaring Twenties,” which were And so it was: the exception- not exactly lacking in debauchery. al Berlin director Ernst Lubitsch, The first screening of the film who strove to “de-opera-tize” the version of CARMEN, based on the op- movie, and the enchanting Pola Ne- era by Georges Bizet, took place three gri, femme fatale of the first hour, days before the end of the war, on No- formed a dream team of the early vember 8, 1918, in the screening room days of film. CARMEN celebrated of Ufa’s studio in Tempelhof. Inside, great success overseas from 1921 the champagne flowed; outside, the under the title GYPSY BLOOD and previous world order was collapsing. paved the way to international fame Spartacists and government troops for the artistic duo, ensuring that the shot at each other while the illustri- two personages have not been for- ous preview audience enjoyed itself. gotten to this day. CARMEN, how- The next day, as the latter nursed their ever, didn’t stand the test of time so hangovers, Philipp Scheidemann pro- well – most recently, only various claimed the Republic. abridged versions of the film were The real premiere of the film, available, all of them in poor condi- directed by Ernst Lubitsch and star- tion. In 2018, the Friedrich Wilhelm ring the great Pola Negri in the title Murnau Foundation took on the task role, took place a good month later, of painstakingly reassembling, re- on December 20, 1918, at Berlin‘s Un- storing, and digitizing the mutilated ion Theater. Its wildness, opulence, versions into a largely complete ver- and sensuality captured the spirit of sion with new coloring. The project the times to come. “As Carmen, the was made possible by the support of spirited Polish actress [Pola Negri] Bertelsmann as the main sponsor. swept across the screen in such a way Join us in looking forward to that several women’s clubs immedi- the premiere of the reconstructed ver- ately cried out for censorship. But the sion, for which Tobias Schwencke has moralizing ladies were out of luck. composed a new score, commissioned The odious censorship had been by ZDF/ARTE.

2 3 are faced with the mammoth task of (Federal Archive) and the Stiftung Dear restoring and digitizing our endan- Dear silent Deutsche Kinemathek, as well as the film fans, gered silent film heritage to preserve movie fans, Federal Government Commissioner it for posterity – a task they can hardly for Culture and the Media. Silent films exert an enduring manage on their own. Created during the First World fascination: They allow a journey As a company with its own If films are not shown to audi- War, CARMEN tells a wild story of pas- back in time to the early days of cine- tradition in the film business and ex- ences, they will gradually disappear sion and aggrievement, order and re- ma. Actors and directors alike had to tensive digital expertise, Bertelsmann from cultural memory. If old films are bellion, love and death. It was to prove develop their own language without can and wants to help. For years, we not restored and digitized, they will a stepping stone to Hollywood for the sound and find new forms of artistic have organized silent film festivals in eventually disappear physically from brilliant leading actress Pola Negri and expression. Their works reflect this Berlin and other major European cit- this world as well. That is why today her ingenious director Ernst Lubitsch. pioneering spirit and continue to at- ies, and supported major restoration marks a double celebration. CARMEN bears witness to the tract people to cinemas and silent film projects such as the digital restoration CARMEN, an early film by Ernst high artistic quality of early German festivals to this day. of THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI Lubitsch, is finally available in a dig- movies. Many of them are held by the No less fascinating is the cul- (2014), Fritz Lang’s DER MÜDE TOD itized version, restored using state-of- Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Founda- tural-historical significance of this art (DESTINY, 2016), and DER GEIGER the-art techniques, that is as close as tion … awaiting their revitalization. form, which was born a good century VON FLORENZ (THE FIDDLER OF possible to the version of its December ago. Silent films are the starting point FLORENCE) by Paul Czinner (2018). 1918 premiere in Berlin. Christiane von Wahlert of all cinematic genres. They were the Now, we have sponsored the Friedrich This extensive restoration was Chairwoman, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau nucleus that gave rise to the creative Wilhelm Murnau Foundation’s resto- only possible with the generous sup- Foundation diversity of the film industry as we ration of another silent film classic: port of Bertelsmann. Our sincere grat- know it today. As a company that has CARMEN by Ernst Lubitsch. Please itude goes out to the media company. thrived on the creative achievements join me in celebrating the fact that We are extremely pleased that of its filmmakers, authors, musicians this silent film classic can once again CARMEN can now be shown in new and journalists for over 186 years, we be shown in its entirety and in digital splendor as the opening movie of the know the great value of such inspir- cinematic quality! UFA Film Nights 2021. ing and timeless works. Bertelsmann A silent film can only unfold its has long been committed to preserv- Thomas Rabe full glory with a brilliant accompany- ing important cultural assets at the CEO of Bertelsmann ing score. Tobias Schwencke’s composi- European level – including our cin- tion was commissioned by ZDF/ARTE. ematic heritage. This is particularly Thanks to the wonderful public-ser- necessary in the case of silent films, vice collaboration for the “Stummfilm as the copies that still exist are not auf ARTE” (Silent Films on ARTE) se- only aging, but will soon no longer ries, CARMEN will soon be accessible be accessible. Only very few cinemas to a television audience as well. still have analog projection technol- We would like to thank our ogy. Foundations and film archives archive partners, the Bundesarchiv

4 5 CARMEN World Premiere José, a dragoon who has just with her, but she is not too particular Original December 20, 1918, Union-Theater been promoted to sergeant, falls in love about fidelity and keeps seducing men Kurfürstendamm, Berlin with Carmen, a worker in a cigarette for her own purposes. During a duel Restored version August 25, 2021 factory who is arrested during a riot, with a rival, José becomes a murder- as part of the UFA Film Nights in while at his post in Seville. He helps er. He loses his post and his bride and Berlin and as a live stream on her escape, which lands him in prison. joins Carmen’s gang of smugglers. She www.ufa-filmnaechte.de When he has served his sentence, he soon gets bored of him and travels to Television premiere September 27, 2021, 11.30 pm on ARTE meets the hot-blooded young woman Gibraltar, where she takes up with the again – this time as a dancer at a festi- matador Escamillo. But her recklessness val. He becomes increasingly enamored doesn’t end well for Carmen either... Restoration (2018) Restoration Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation Funding Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, Production The Federal Government Commis- Drama in 6 acts freely adapted from Prosper Merrimé, by Hanns Kräly sioner for Culture and the Media, Directed by Ernst Lubitsch Friends and Patrons of German Film Exterior and interior design Kurt Richter Heritage e.V. Costume director Alex Hubert Material Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv Photography Alfred Hansen (German Federal Archives), Production company Projektions-AG “Union” PAGU, Berlin Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen Edition Luciano Palumbo Cast Preliminary research Anke Wilkening José Navarro Harry Liedtke Collation and documentation Miranda Reason, Luciano Palumbo His mother Frau Pagay Scan, digital image restoration, Dolores, his bride Grete Dierks and 4K mastering L’Immagine Ritrovata Carmen, a cigarette factory worker Pola Negri Garcia, smuggler Paul Biensfeld Dan Cairo, smuggler Paul Conradi Music (2021) Remendato, smuggler Max Kronert New composition Tobias Schwencke, based on Carmen’s landlady Margarete Kupfer motifs from the eponymous opera Escamillo, a bullfighter Leopold von Ledebur by Georges Bizet, commissioned An English officer Heinrich Peer by ZDF/ARTE. A prison guard Wilhelm Diegelmann Recording ensemble KONTRASTE Executive producer Thomas Schmölz, 2eleven music film Editing Nina Goslar

6 7 Biographies resident dramatist from 1915. Together Ernst Lubitsch they created films such as MADAME (Director) DUBARRY (1919) and DIE BERGKATZE (THE WILDCAT, 1921). The two also *January 29, 1892 Berlin, worked together in Hollywood until Germany; † November 30, 1947 Los the end of the silent film era. Kräly fell Angeles, USA into oblivion in the 1930s, and spent Ernst Lubitsch was active in his last years working as a janitor in film as long ago as the early 1910s. He Los Angeles. became popular first as an actor, and soon as a writer and director. He made several masterful historical films and Kurt Richter comedies in Germany. In 1922, he (Architect) continued his career in Hollywood, working with stars including Mary *October 29, 1885 Krems on Pickford, Marlene Dietrich, and James the Danube, Austria-Hungary; † April Stewart. His unmistakable style was 26, 1960 Salzburg, Austria celebrated as the “Lubitsch touch” Kurt Richter, a set designer by and his talkies TROUBLE IN PARA- training, was hired by Ufa in 1914, be- DISE (1932) and TO BE OR NOT TO came one of the first dedicated film -ar BE (1942) became classics of cinemat- chitects, and later the production com- ic history. In 1947, he was awarded an pany’s chief architect. He worked with honorary Oscar for his life’s work. Ernst Lubitsch early on and, as his reg- ular architect, was responsible for the major monumental films after the end Hanns Kräly of the First World War. In 1930 he re- (Screenplay) turned to Austria, where he worked at various Viennese theaters. In 1940, he *June 16, 1884 Hamburg, Ger- was appointed to the Salzburg Landes- many; † November 12, 1950 Los Ange- theater, where he stayed on as its suc- les, USA cessful chief stage designer, with his Born Iwan Kräly, the Hamburg own studio, until his retirement. native began his career as a stage actor and as a dramatist for producer Paul Davidson. In 1913 he met Ernst Lu- bitsch. The two soon became a perma- nent team and Kräly became Lubitsch’s

10 ERNST LUBITSCH shooting silent films during the First Alex Hubert World War. Along with Theodor (Ali Hubert, Sparkuhl, he was one of Lubitsch’s regular cameramen and enjoyed his Costumes) professional peak during this time. *December 1, 1878 Vienna, After Lubitsch’s emigration, Hansen Austria-Hungary; † June 14, 1940 Los worked for Carl Boese and Hans Angeles, USA Steinhoff. His film career ended in Ernst Lubitsch recruited the 1931 with a few B productions di- costume designer to work on films rected by Carl Heinz Wolff. towards the end of the First World War. He created countless magnifi- cent costumes for Lubitsch’s epic his- Pola Negri torical movies. He made a name for *January 3, 1897 Lipno, King- himself in Weimar Republic cinema dom of Poland, Russian Empire; † Au- with films such as SUMURUN (ONE gust 1, 1987 San Antonio, USA ARABIAN NIGHT, 1920) and DAS Polish-born Apolonia Chalu- WEIB DES PHARAO (THE LOVES pec began her stage career in Warsaw OF PHARAOH, 1921). In 1926 he ac- before emigrating to Berlin in 1917 cepted Lubitsch’s invitation to Hol- and gradually being built into a star. lywood, but returned to Germany at She first appeared in a Lubitsch film the beginning of the talkie era. After in DIE AUGEN DER MUMIE MA (THE the Nazi seizure of power, he moved EYES OF THE MUMMY, 1918). Her in- permanently to the United States and ternational breakthrough came with worked for many European direc- MADAME DUBARRY (1919). She fol- tors-in-exile, most notably collabo- lowed Lubitsch to America in 1922, rating with Wilhelm Dieterle. where she was typecast as the pas- sionate, exotic vamp. Because of her strong accent, she returned to Europe Alfred Hansen with the advent of talkies. In Nazi (Camera) Germany, she played self-sacrificing mother roles such as in MAZURKA *August 9, 1885 Copenhagen, (1935) until she was forced to emi- Denmark; † January 21, 1935 Berlin, grate in 1939. Back in the U.S., she Germany was rarely seen on screen, but main- Alfred Hansen was initially a tained her reputation as an eccentric news photographer before he began diva throughout her life.

POLA NEGRI 13 appeared in numerous movies, though Harry Liedtke usually in supporting roles. He was *October 12, 1882 Königsberg known there for esteemed characters (now Kaliningrad, Russia); † April 28, with genteel attitudes such as fathers, 1945 Bad Saarow-Pieskow, Germany patriarchs, heroes, and aristocrats. In Born in Prussia, Harry Liedtke CARMEN, he plays the fearless mata- initially completed a commercial ap- dor Escamillo. prenticeship before taking acting les- sons. He appeared on various Rhein- hardt stages and came to the film Grete Diercks business in 1912 through the producer *September 1, 1890 Hamburg, Oskar Messter. At first he was often Germany; † July 15, 1978 Lauingen, seen in the role of a youthful lover, Germany later as an elegant gentleman and aris- Grete Diercks began her success- tocratic bon vivant. Also a member ful acting career as a child actress on of Lubitsch’s regular ensemble, Liedt- Hamburg stages. As a young woman, ke became one of the first male stars she made guest appearances in Riga of German cinema. With the advent before accepting engagements in Ber- of talkies, his career slowly wound lin. There she also came into contact down; in 1941, he made a comeback with film and appeared on the screen as the patriarch in Heinz Rühmann’s several times from the mid-1910s on. SOPHIENLUND. In late April 1945, he In addition to roles in the Lubitsch and his third wife were murdered by films CARMEN and RAUSCH (INTOX- members of the Red Army. ICATION, 1919), she also appeared in F. W. Murnau’s DER BRENNENDE ACKER (THE BURNING SOIL, 1922) Leopold von and E. A. Dupont’s DIE GEIER-WALLY Ledebur (VULTURE WALLY, 1921). In 1923, she married an engineer and ended her *May 18, 1876 Berlin, Germa- acting career. ny; † August 22, 1955 at Gut Bock- horn in Ruhwinkel, Germany Leopold Baron of Ledebur first worked as a lawyer before switching to acting in 1906. He appeared as a character actor on German stages for several decades. From 1916 on, he also

HARRY LIEDTKE 15 Contemporary Press Coverage “Carmen.” The ‘Union’ Masterpiece work, he has goaded each individual – Ernst Lubitsch Directs to give their best and their all to make It is no exaggeration if I claim the film, to make the ensemble appear that Union has created its master- ‘Carmen’ borne by the strongest human passion. piece, and at the same time the best Friday’s screening of the mon- We have seen Pola Negri and Harry German film, with its drama “Car- umental “Union” film “Carmen” was Liedtke in other films as well: but the men,” which celebrated its premiere a tremendous success, received with masterful performances that shook before invited guests last Thursday at demonstrative applause by a sell-out the audience yesterday, that provoked the Unionpalast on Kurfürstendamm. audience. This film clearly proves their demonstrative applause, testify It is probably the first time that one the ability of the German film in- to the fact that their performance was has seen a film unfold in which, to dustry and its indisputable compet- guided by a force that could only come one’s own delight, one saw nothing, itiveness in the world market; if the from the genius director who spurred but absolutely nothing to find fault major film productions still ahead them on, constrained them, pointed with, but which instead created a from the other companies in 1918 the way for them: from Ernst Lubitsch. deep impression unimpaired by even match this great work of art, we will a single flaw. [...] The whole film is an have a closed series of German works Die Lichtbild-Bühne (LBB), Berlin, experience, an event. of art that can successfully start the Nr. 51 dated December 21, 1918 march to the world market. [...] Der Film, Berlin, Nr. 52 dated The plot, permeated by a deep December 28, 1918 sense of human struggle and suffering, has found in Ernst Lubitsch a director who fleshes out the bones of the text with such sparkling, such rich, such colorful life that “Union” may be con- gratulated on this genius of cinematog- raphy. In the 2,000 meters of this film there is not a scene that does not cap- tivate audiences with its pulsating temperament; not a single movement that does not elegantly emphasize the character; not one encounter that isn’t sparkling with the finest artistic esprit. With the strong will that characterizes the great director, he has tactfully sub- ordinated the forces of his contributors to the overall impression, he has lim- ited them to make the overall picture

18 19 Restoration to take hold again. However, the fire A Burning reoccurs shortly afterwards: first when Passion: Don José burns with remorse for losing his rank and finds himself in prison. The Digital And then again at the market, where he falls for the passionate, provocative Restoration of Carmen, and is slowly but inexorably Ernst Lubitsch’s consumed by her fire. And yet, this extremely pow- CARMEN erful symbolic force of the flames, which would fit so perfectly in this film centering on passion and its de- Outside, it is raining as we re- structive power, is neither a clever ceive the very first digitized raw im- gimmick employed by director Ernst ages for the restoration of Ernst Lu- Lubitsch, nor by screenwriter Hanns bitsch’s CARMEN to be viewed at the Kräly, nor by producer Paul Davidson. Deutsches Filmhaus in Wiesbaden. The fire is not part of the film’s We quickly darken the room; the content, but a ravage of time that playback of the film scans on a com- physically affects one of the few last puter screen is about to start. surviving film materials of CARMEN. It is hot in Seville as the dra- Because if they are not stored goon Don José Navarro dreamily under very strict conditions, which can reads the words of love sent to him be ensured only at great expense, film by his beloved Dolores, adoring and material that may be close to a hun- proud of her husband, who has just dred years old suffers “at best” from a been promoted to sergeant. Not far phenomenon known as decay or de- from him, in a cigar factory, Carmen composition: Irregular spots form on incites a big fight out of petty envy the surface of the film due to corrosion and irritation. She jumps on the work and other chemical reactions, causing tables, shouting lustily. Dozens of it to deform. If these images are set in workers scuffle, and the brawl begins motion, as during our test viewing, to escalate until the factory unexpect- they result in visual effects that dance edly bursts into flames. across the film’s images, much like fire, It seems as if a sudden fire will and finally dissolve it completely. end it all after the first 10 minutes, This is even more the case only for things to be miraculously put for films that were colored the way back together and the fiction to begin CARMEN was, by dipping the film

22 23 One of the surviving fragments from the historic distribution copy Duplicate produced in West Germany in the 1970s, from the holdings of the Bundesarchiv Filmarchiv stock into a variety of dye baths (“tint- first “major movie” took place on the After the film was released love as we was the case in Bizet’s opera, ing”). According to a convention that Tempelhof studio lot. The popular in Germany, it took two years for it but by a fascination with destroying had already established itself as part of actor Harry Liedtke plays Don José, to reach the U.S., where it was re- everything that embodies order and a canonical film language by the time Carmen is Pola Negri at the begin- leased in 1921 under the title GYPSY ordinariness. Pola Negri’s anti-heroine CARMEN was produced in the late ning of her success, a mere moment BLOOD, following a massive revision is moved by the desire, as antisocial as 1910s, each nuance was ascribed its before the big leap that would take of the content. In the U.S., the camera it is alluring, to circumvent the rules own meaning. If decay or disintegra- her straight to Hollywood. negative was heavily manipulated; so and humiliate her fellow human be- tion is the “best case scenario” for the The movie premiered on De- was the editing order and the length ings: a suitor is silenced, a powerful inexorable aging of cellulose nitrate cember 20, 1918 at Berlin’s Union of entire shots. The entire Dolores sto- army officer is deceived, another – an film material, the most common sce- Theater on Kurfürstendamm. A few ryline is omitted in this cut version, Englishman at that! – is seduced and nario is a more drastic and irreversible weeks earlier, on November 8, 1918, the intertitles are longer and some of then exploited, as a business. Carmen, one: it self-ignites and burns (sponta- press and Ufa executives had been them hint at a magical – quasi-mysti- a wild-willed woman, bosses around neous combustion). This is precisely treated to an exclusive preview of the cal – dimension of Carmen’s character a whole group of robbers, seduces a the reason why so few of the films of film while Lubitsch was still working that is not at all evident in the Ger- prison guard, and, last but not least, the past – especially from before World on the final cut. Pola Negri later re- man version. So love moves over to wreaks havoc with the bourgeois life War II – have survived. And this is pre- counted that the November Revolu- create more room for action, perhaps of an ordinary man until it is hopeless- cisely why it is such a great sensation tion raged in the streets of Berlin that to appeal less to the intellect than to ly destroyed. Don José is wound into whenever one is rediscovered. evening, and the screening kept being the tastes of the masses. a death spiral before it even occurs to Except for some of the scenes punctuated by the distant sound of ri- Because in their original version him that his infatuation will be his set in the robbers’ den, which were fle fire. On November 9, 1918, the day of the film, Ernst Lubitsch and screen- death sentence. Thus, a perhaps crude shot at the Rüdersdorf limestone after the advance screening, the Wei- writer Hanns Kräly portray a Carmen but still appropriate symbolism is the quarry, the filming of Ernst Lubitsch’s mar Republic was proclaimed. who is driven not by the longing for fact that the only man with whom

24 25 Carmen can truly fall in love is an an- Munich, had access to the Russian ma- imal tamer – a bullfighter – who plays terials and was able to combine them with the lives of animals out of sport- with others for the first time, adding to ing ambition. and re-releasing entire film takes that Perhaps the reason for CAR- had previously been considered lost. MEN’s success in Germany lies pre- The Friedrich Wilhelm Mur- cisely in the fact that the film offered nau Foundation had something an audience – exhausted by the First similar in mind in 2018, when the World War and shaken by the social film was digitally restored for the changes – to experience the pleasure first time. Eight different elements – of the forbidden on the big screen. which, lined up one behind another Thus it helped to suspend, or even on the ground, would have bridged defeat, the hard years of “routinized” the distance between Zoo-Palast and danger of death for an hour and a half. Kino International in Berlin – were Unlike other contemporary viewed, measured, compared. For films, which were often shot with each film reel, the length of each Film still from the Soviet material two cameras placed side by side – one of the approximately 660 shots was for shooting the German version and measured to determine how many one for the export version – the cut frames were missing from which reel. for CARMEN’s U.S. American release Since the only contemporary surviv- was made directly in the negative of ing materials are fragments of one or the German version, because only more tinted distribution prints from that one had been made. As a result, the holdings of the Bundesarchiv-Fil- the material cut away from the orig- marchiv (German Federal Archives), inal negative is now considered irre- and the Deutsche Kinemathek, these versibly lost. were considered central elements and After its exploitation in the U.S., taken as reference. the film saw a re-release in Germany in Two black-and-white dupli- 1923, and was then confiscated by the cates, one of Soviet manufacture with Soviets after World War II. working notes incised, now stored in Many West German institu- the German Federal Archives, and tions concerned with cinematic her- another of later generation from the itage have sought to reconstruct the same stock, served as the source and montage of the premiere version in the basis. Together with the copy frag- Duplicate produced in West Germany, from the holdings of the Bundesarchiv postwar period, using a variety of ap- ments, these two materials were digi- Filmarchiv proaches. In the 1980s, Enno Patalas, tized in 4K at L‘Immagine Ritrovata in then director of the Filmmuseum in Bologna and combined into a largely

26 27 complete version. Any glaring anom- alies were corrected there as part of a complex retouching plan. The copy fragments served not only as a reference, but also as a tem- plate for the coloration of the black- and-white materials. These were taken as the basis for the color plan, which, however, remains largely speculative. The missing intertitles were digitally reconstructed – for this, the handwrit- For the restoration of CARMEN, various incomplete film materials were combined with each other. In ten notes in the “Soviet” duplicate order to determine what frames were missing at which points in which film elements, the film mate- served as a valuable template. Due to rials were scanned and compared with each other, frame by frame. its physical condition, the decaying footage of our first viewing was ul- timately not included. No flames, in that sense, are shown on the screen. Hopefully, however, the fiery appeal of CARMEN has become visible again in the present digital restoration: an exquisite cast and the well-consid- ered elegance of their acting; complex buildings that make you forget the studio dimension and that open up modern, neorealist vistas; above all, the first traces of the Lubitsch genius, the unconventionality of his narra- tives, his art in combining different genres, the subtly mocking criticism of the bourgeoisie, of the timid who let themselves indecisively be manipulat- ed by others. The first flickering flames of the Lubitsch touch.

Luciano Palumbo Film restorer at the Friedrich Wilhelm Watch the same scene in the restored version here Murnau Foundation

28 29 Music Carmen is one of the best-loved About the composer: CARMEN – operas in music history. It is omnipres- The composer and pianist To- About the New ent, its catchy arias are fixtures in the bias Schwencke regularly works for musical repertoire of seduction and theaters and opera houses such as Score by Tobias passion – from the bouncy opening the Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin, the motif of the overture to the ecstat- Berliner Ensemble, and the Staatsop- Schwencke ic-rhythmic “Tra la la la” of the Chan- er Unter den Linden. He has staged or son Bohème or Carmen’s famous ha- served as the musical director at re- banera “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle.” nowned institutions around the world Tobias Schwencke’s new film such as the Theater an der Wien, the score, written for a small ensemble (4 Teatro Real Madrid, the Uppsala Stad- winds, 3 strings, guitar, harp, accordion, stheater, the Deutsches Theater in percussion) takes all of Bizet’s themes for Berlin, the Düsseldorfer Schauspiel- representing the characters and weaves haus, and the Munich State Opera. them together in a new, original score. He has worked with directors such Much as Lubitsch reinterpreted the oper- as Herbert Fritsch, Nurkan Erpulat, atic material and placed the unfortunate Claus Peymann, Leander Haußmann, José at the center of the cinematic narra- and Frank Castorf. Schwencke is also tive, Tobias Schwencke also takes on the known for his new concertante film music: The familiar motifs accompany music, for example to accompany the main characters through the film, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s FAUST at but they change, overlap and are further the Salzburg Festival in 2011. developed so that they can be adapted to the film’s dramaturgy at every second. Tobias Schwencke uses all his experi- ence as a stage musician to choreograph the music in a new way. The result is an enjoyable potpourri – just like in the his- torical silent movie theater, which func- tioned like a large juke box and offered the audience a new selection of popu- lar music at each screening, music that could otherwise only be heard at the op- era or in concert halls. Listen to an excerpt from Nina Goslar Tobias Schwencke’s new composition Film editorial department ZDF/ARTE

32 33 Historical Background Berlin, he worked strongly with typifi- Lubitsch’s early work: in many films today against the backdrop of the on- Typification, Yes cation. This is based on the one hand of his Berlin years, non-conformist, going fundamental transformation of – Typism, No on his origins in the theater, where, rebellious women are at the center, media and society. especially on popular stages, typi- for example, in addition to CAR- Friedemann Beyer, Curator fication is a centuries-old tradition, MEN, in ICH MÖCHTE KEIN MANN Friedemann Beyer of the UFA Film Nights, on as in the characters of the Commedia SEIN (1918 – I DON’T WANT TO BE After working as a televi- Ernst Lubitsch’s CARMEN dell’arte. Besides, typification is one A MAN), MADAME DUBARRY (1919) sion editor in Munich and Cologne, of the widespread stylistic devices of DIE AUSTERNPRINZESSIN (1919 – Friedemann Beyer served as Manag- To what extent does the char- silent film, in which the actors, as in THE OYSTER PRINCESS), and DIE ing Executive Board member of the acter of Carmen in Ernst Lubitsch’s pantomime, expressed themselves BERGKATZE (1921 – THE WILDCAT). Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Founda- film differ from that in Bizet’s opera of according to the nature of the gen- tion in Wiesbaden from 2001-2007. the same name? re exclusively through overempha- What makes Ernst’s Lubitsch’s At the foundation, he super- Georges Bizet’s Carmen is still sized gestures and facial expressions, CARMEN interesting for today’s au- vised numerous restorations and DVD the most frequently performed op- at times bordering on the grotesque. dience ? Why should the film still be releases of works of German film her- era in classical musical theater. While These attributions may seem border- screened today? itage, including DER LETZTE MANN Bizet creates a romanticizing image line alienating, and even ostracizing It is above all a valuable docu- (THE LAST MAN), MÜNCHHAUSEN, of his protagonist and emphasizes today. However, Carmen’s affiliation ment of contemporary history, even and NOSFERATU. A film historian her love of freedom, Lubitsch draws a with the Roma minority plays only if an examination of this early mas- and author of various pertinent pub- self-confident, rebellious young wom- a subordinate role in Lubitsch’s work terpiece of film history leads us di- lications, Beyer has curated the UFA an of the lower class who exerts a great and is not used in a denunciatory or rectly into current cultural debates Film Nights since 2011. attraction on men. Most importantly, pejorative manner. about the experience of foreignness Lubitsch does not deny his origins as and clichés. Starting from a crucial a comedy director in his CARMEN ad- What role model do female historical moment, the period of up- aptation. Pola Negri appears less as a characters like Carmen embody in heaval immediately after World War I, femme fatale than as a parody of one, Ernst Lubitsch’s early films? it opens up important perspectives for with hyperbolic external traits and an Lubitsch uses the historical us: The film illustrates how and with exaggeratedly spirited play. Carmen figure of the 19th century as what means early cinema staged for- a cipher to show solidarity with the eign worlds from a Central European Doesn’t Lubitsch perpetuate cli- self-confident women of the early perspective; it documents the artis- chés and prejudices with his CARMEN 20th century. Emancipatory-minded tic transfer from theater to cinema film? women who, like everywhere else in through its actors and actresses, most No, he doesn’t – if you look at the Western world, broke with outdat- of whom came from Berlin theaters; him and his art in the context of his ed social norms and took to the streets and finally it illuminates the social time. Quite the opposite, in fact: Ernst for their equal rights. Lubitsch’s sym- charisma of an early female screen idol Lubitsch sympathizes with minorities pathies were with them, and he cel- like Pola Negri on the threshold of the in his films – not just in CARMEN. In ebrated them in his films. A woman emancipatory dawn of modernity. All the early phase of his films made in like Carmen is not an isolated case in of these topics are still highly relevant

36 37 digital restoration of Fritz Lang’s Historical DESTINY (2016), Paul Czinner’s THE Paths FIDDLER OF FLORENCE (2018), and Ernst Lubitsch’s CARMEN, which Ufa, Bertelsmann and the estab- will now be presented for the first lishment of the Friedrich Wilhelm time in its largely reconstructed ver- Murnau Foundation sion at the UFA Film Nights 2021. Ultimately, however, the efforts of It may surprise some cineas- Europe’s largest media house tie in tes to see an international company to a historical connection that began that is commercially successful with more than 50 years ago. its media businesses in more than Effective January 1, 1964, Ber- 50 countries, and a foundation un- telsmann acquired Universum-Film der public law, which today manag- AG (Ufa), which had gone bankrupt es most of Germany’s film heritage, after the reprivatization, and in so appear as partners in a project to doing achieved its long-desired entry preserve a significant silent film. For into the televi-sion production busi- several years now, Bertelsmann has ness. At that time, expansion was been working to preserve Germa- the order of the day in Gütersloh. ny’s silent-film heritage, at various Founded in 1835, the publishing levels and in pan-European context: house had taken its first step out of The UFA Film Nights, for example, a pure-play (printing and) publishing festival originally established in Ber- in 1950 with the establishment of lin, went on to achieve great popu- the Bertelsmann Lesering, and had larity in other European countries enjoyed rapid growth ever since. In as well; and seven years ago Bertels- the early 1960s, the first Lesering off- mann became the main sponsor of shoots in other European countries the digital restoration of the classic were founded. Above and beyond THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. this, Reinhard Mohn (1921–2009), The world premiere of this version of the “post-war founder,” CEO and the Expressionist masterpiece at the owner of Bertelsmann, was deter- Berlinale 2014 became a major media mined to expand into new lines of event. Since then, Bertelsmann has business, a process that had begun organized further screenings in Ber- with the founding of the Ariola re- lin, Brussels, Madrid and New York. cord label in 1958. And while the In this connection, it also pro- next step – the path to commercial vided the financial support for the television, which had moved within

38 THE UFA HOUSE IN DÜSSELDORF, 1964 reach at the end of the 1950s (“Ade- total of 44 movie theaters. Just three After intensive discussions In the case of CARMEN, anoth- nauer-Fernsehen”) – was still a long months later, on July 1, 1965, Ber- between the German government, er major German silent film has been way off, content production for pub- telsmann acquired a 60-percent stake Bertelsmann and Germany’s lead- permanently secured by digitization. lic-service TV appeared to be a worth- in the successful Constantin Film ing cinematographic organization This masterpiece is now finally made while business for the future. GmbH. The focus was on a common SPIO, it was finally agreed at the available to posterity in a version that With the purchase of Ufa, Ber- feature film production. These invest- beginning of 1966 to establish a comes as close as possible to its orig- telsmann had not only acquired the ments, coupled with the relatively non-profit foundation under civil inal (now lost) version. As a media brand but also Ufa’s stake in Deutsche good 1964 financials of Ufa-Theater law, which took over both Bertels- company that places creativity at the Wochenschau GmbH, Ufa Tonverlag AG, seem to have given the film in- mann’s and Bavaria’s film holdings center of its value creation and corpo- including Vienna-based Bohème Ver- dustry, which was definitely ailing at for a total of DEM 13.8 million, for rate culture, Bertelsmann is also com- lag, Ufa Industrie- und Werbefilmpro- the time, a glimmer of hope. “There which it received a loan from the mitted to safe-guarding and preserv- duktion, Ufa Fernsehproduktion, and can be no doubt,” wrote the trade UFI liquidation proceeds, that it ing important creations of the past. exploitation rights to Ufa’s inventory magazine Filmblätter in March 1966, was expected to repay in the fol- Today’s diversity and the Group’s of films. Initially, Mohn had little in- “that the secret high command of lowing years. The Wiesbaden-based large, multi-digital media offering terest in cinema productions or even German film expansion is currently foundation was named after the re- worldwide have historical roots. This the legendary silent film heritage that based in Gütersloh.” nowned German silent film direc- is one of the reasons why Bertelsmann is so inseparably linked to the name But the company was look- tor Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. For feels its commitment to Europe’s cul- Ufa, because after the purchase of ing forward, not back; and at first it Bertelsmann, this closed the chap- tural heritage is so important. Ufa, the focus was clearly on the tel- remained unclear how one would go ter of Ufa’s silent film legacy. evision business. Bertelsmann Fern- about exploiting Ufa’s legendary film Meanwhile, the potential of Helen Müller sehfilmproduk-tionsgesellschaft andinventory, which after all represented the large Ufa brand has been ex- Head of Cultural Affairs Playhouse Studio Reinhard Mohn, a major asset of the newly acquired ploited further, particularly after and Corporate History, Bertelsmann which had only been founded a few company. As early as spring 1964, an the advent of private television in years earlier, were integrated into the outcry was heard in the (trade) press: the 1980s. Today, UFA is a powerful newly acquired Ufa in 1964. Howev- A sale of the films to the US-Ameri- program creator within the Bertels- er, the Bertelsmann credo, that media can company Seven Arts, as was ap- mann Group, which has continu- such as books, films, television and re- parently planned, was unthinkable... ously consolidated its leadership cords should not compete, but should and was then promptly prohibited by of Germany’s film and television complement each other as a chain of the German government, via the “Ufi production market. And yet: To this creative content, inexorably led the liquida-tion committee.” A directory day, its historical legacy forms an company in the direc-tion of film in published in 1966 in the magazine essential part of the brand’s cha- the following years. In April 1965 the Filmecho shows just how exten-sive risma. Several years after the 100th newly acquired Ufa cinema chain was the collection was: it comprised “film anniversary of the “old” UFA, to- ex-panded by the acquisition of Pal- rights from around 1,000 silent films day’s UFA still successfully invokes las Filmverleih GmbH and Merkur and 900 sound films, 1,200 cultural an artistic tradition that once began Filmtheater. With the 15 Merkur films and 106 post-war films, as well as with Fritz Lang, F. W. Murnau and theaters, Ufa-Theater AG now had a some 200 unfilmed material rights.” many others.

40 41 The Publishers Bertelsmann tization or exhibitions and concerts. Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation Bertelsmann is a media, servic- For many years, Bertelsmann has or- In its capacity as archive and es and education company that oper- ganized the UFA Film Nights in Berlin rights holder, the Murnau Foundation ates in about 50 countries around the and supported the screening of silent looks after a significant portion of Ger- world. It includes the broadcaster RTL films at festivals around the world. many’s film heritage. The foundation’s Group, the trade book publisher Pen- The company also regularly acts as most important capital is its unique, guin Random House, the magazine the main sponsor of the digital resto- self-contained film inventory, which publisher Gruner + Jahr, the music ration of important silent films. The includes prints and materials as well as company BMG, the service provid- Group also owns the Archivio Storico rights of the former production com- er Arvato, the Bertelsmann Printing Ricordi in Milan, which houses a panies Ufa, Decla, Universum-Film, Group, the Bertelsmann Education wealth of unique testaments to Italian Bavaria, Terra, Tobis and Berlin-Film. Group and Bertelsmann Investments, opera history. Bertelsmann is index- This stock, of outstanding importance an international network of funds. ing the archive holdings according in terms of cultural and film history, The company has around 130,000 to the latest standards and making its consists of more than 6,000 silent and employees and generated revenues cultural treasures accessible to a broad sound films (feature films, documen- of €17.3 billion in the 2020 financial public. Since 2020, the “Culture@Ber- taries, short films and commercials) year. Bertelsmann stands for creativi- telsmann” activities have increasingly spanning the period from the early ty and entrepreneurship. This combi- shifted to the digital realm. days of motion pictures to the early nation promotes first-class media con- 1960s. It includes films by major di- tent and innovative service solutions rectors such as Fritz Lang, Ernst Lu- that inspire customers around the bitsch, Detlef Sierck, Helmut Käutner, world. Bertelsmann aspires to achieve and Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, the climate neutrality by 2030. In 2021, man the foundation is named after. Bertelsmann commemorates the Among the best-known titles are DAS 100th birthday of Reinhard Mohn, CABINET DES DR. CALIGARI (1920), the Group’s late post-war founder and METROPOLIS (1927), DER BLAUE EN- longtime Chairman and CEO. GEL (THE BLUE ANGEL, 1929/30), DIE As a creative content company DREI VON DER TANKSTELLE (THE with a close connection to its 186- THREE FROM THE FILLING STATION, year history, Bertelsmann is com- 1930), MÜNCHHAUSEN (1942/43) and mitted to the cultural community at GROSSE FREIHEIT NR. 7 (1943/44). various levels as part of its “Culture@ Bertelsmann” activities. For example, the Group devotes itself to preserv- ing important cultural assets, with a focus on making cultural heritage accessible, for example through digi-

44 45 Impressum Picture credits Footnote

Publisher All stills taken from the 1 Cf. Jörg Schöning, „Es wurde Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA digitally restored film copy, um ein Butterbrot verkauft“. Das Corporate Communications Copyright: Friedrich Wilhelm Erbe der Ufa: Entflechtung und Carl-Bertelsmann-Straße 270 Murnau Foundation, Wies­ Neuausrichtung nach dem Zwei- D-33311 Gütersloh, Germany baden, except: ten Weltkrieg [It was sold for a www.bertelsmann.com pp. 11, 12, 14, Source: song. The Ufa legacy: unbund- DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & ling and realignment after the in cooperation with the Filmmuseum, Frankfurt a.M. Second World War], in: Rainer Friedrich Wilhelm p. 32, Copyright: Tobias Rother, Vera Thomas (Eds.), Li- Murnau Foundation Schwencke nientreu und Populär, Das UFA- Murnaustraße 6 p. 39, Source: Bertelsmann Imperium 1933–1945 [Loyal to D-65189 Wiesbaden, Germany the Party Line and Popular, www.murnau-stiftung.de The UFA Empire 1933–1945], Berlin 2017, pp. 194–206, esp. Editing p. 203ff.; and Klaus Kreimeier, Alissa Nordmeier, Die UFA-Story, Geschichte eines Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, Filmkonzerns [The UFA story, Berlin History of a Film Company], Frankfurt a.M. 2002, p. 451ff. Assistant Editor Christina Dewald, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation, Wiesbaden

Concept and Design Büro Ballmann Weber, Hamburg www.ballmannweber.de

Translation Lara Wagner