British Universities Film & Video Council

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Romeo und Julia auf Dem Dorfe

Alternative title
Romeo and Juliet in the Village
Synopsis
Feature film based on the novel by Gottfried Keller. In a farming community in Switzerland, Vreni and Sali are inseparable as children. Their families find themselves in conflict over land belonging to the illegimate son of the late owner. The Manz family buy it at auction but Marti has occupied it and will not leave. The two children become adults and are in love. When their parents become aware of their relationship there is a fight. Marti goes to hospital having lost his reason and Vreneli has to sell his farm to settle their debts. The two lovers, realising the hopelessness of their position, plan to spend one happy day with each other. They drift away in a boat together; the boat is later found empty.
Language
German (Switzerland)
Country
Switzerland
Medium
Film
Technical information
Black-and-white / Sound
Year of release
1941
Duration
103 mins
Availability
No archive copy found (2006).

Credits

Director
Hans Trommer; Valerien Schmidely
Producer
Conrad Arthur Schlaepfer
Music
Jack Trommer; Walter Zollinger
Art Direction
Fritz Butz
Cast
Erwin KohlundSali Manz (Romeo)
Margrit WinterVreneli Marti (Juliet)
Emil GyrMarti (Capulet)
Johannes SteinerAlbert Manz (Montague)

Additional Details

Production type
Fiction Films
Plays
Romeo and Juliet
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes
Eddie Sammons in Shakespeare: a hundred years on film. (London: Shepheard-Walwyn, 2000) notes that the film was made in the Swiss-German dialect and later re-release versions have a running time of 94 minutes (1943), 84 minutes (1978) and 82 minutes when shown at the Everybody’s Shakespeare International Festival in London, 1994. The film, with French sub-titles, is noted as running 90 minutes.
General
Gottfried Keller’s novel was also the inspiration for Delius’ opera A Village Romeo and Juliet.
History
The film was acreened on Swiss Television (sf1) on 23 June 2006.

Production Company

Name

Pro Film Genossenschaft fur Filmproduktion

Record Stats

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