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Menschen am Sonntag (1930) Plus avec IMDbPro »

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22 utilisateurs sur 24 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
What Hitler destroyed! An effortless depiction of the joy of life., 20 mars 2000

Auteur : David Atfield (bits@alphalink.com.au) de Canberra, Australie

Extraordinary and very simple silent film, put together by some of the most remarkable talents of Twentieth Century Cinema - just read those credits! Within a few years most of these people were in Hollywood, and Hitler had destroyed both the wonderful film industry they had helped build and the joyous Berlin that this film depicts.

The film tells the story of four strangers, two men and two women, enjoying a lazy Sunday by a lake in Berlin. Nothing much seems to happen, but there is a lot going on, as the four interact. There is innocence, the potential for love, the danger of sex, the force of jealousy and the pain of longing. And through it all is the joy of living!

Magnificently shot - largely in extreme close-up - the film allows us a glimpse of Berlin between the wars and it is sad to watch it with the knowledge of what was soon to be. It would have been impossible to make this film with dialogue - the words would have destroyed the nuance and the emotion. It reveals the power of silent cinema.

If the print you see is without a soundtrack, as mine was, then may I recommend playing the Essential Marlene Dietrich during the film. I did this and the combination was unforgettable.

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14 utilisateurs sur 18 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
history, 21 janvier 2007

Auteur : tilmazio de Berlin

Some of the people commenting on this movies mention the fact that it was made only three years before Hitler came to power. While this is true, it is a historical misunderstanding to think that in 1929, when the film was conceived and shot, Hitler was inevitably looming at the political horizon in Germany. In fact, in the Weimar republic of the late 20s there was good reason to believe, that the worst was over for Germany after the chaotic post-WWI-period. The economy had somewhat stabilized, the political circumstances were still chaotic, but I guess people had grown accustomed to the fact that the government changed every so often. Germany was not a democracy in the truest sense of the word, but there was a thriving lower-middle class, and that is what the people in the film are meant to represent. There was good reason to believe, that these people would be typical of Germany at this time. To think that the film makers were delusional about the true state of the German state is a judgement that comes out of knowing what happened later.

Thats what makes this film even more special in my thinking. It shows that there could have been potentially another Germany, and that fascism was not the inevitable consequence of the social condition in the early 30s, German national character or what so ever. In fact, I think thats why this master piece is not as well-known as it deserves to be. It does not fit the bill of 1920s Mabuse-style Germany, where Caligari was an early warning of the Nosferatu was the blue-print of a coming dictator etc, all this Kracauer stuff.

Having said that, I would like to point out two additional things about this film, that make it unique. First of all, with its on-location shot, its amateur actors and its next-to-nothing ,yet social realist story, it is a rare fore-runner of the post-war cinema of Italy etc, that has not acknowledged. (Then again, Rosselini et al never saw this film, but then again, where is the "neo" in "neo-realism" coming from.) It also seems to me that this might very likely be the first "indie" movie. "Indie" is of course a very vague term, and what is called "Independent cinema" differs greatly depending on where the critic is coming from. But I personally know of no other movie, that actually made it into the movie houses, that was produced by a handful of non-pros without the support of a studio. Of course, there are the surrealist films etc, but this was a reasonably successful film, not some art experiment. This is a very daring thesis, I know, but so far nobody was able to prove me wrong....

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9 utilisateurs sur 10 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
People on Sunday, classic on show, 30 mars 2006

Auteur : FilmFlaneur de London

If you enjoy classic silent cinema then you won't want to miss this treat. At times scenes are reminiscent of King Vidor's The Crowd, made just the year before (most especially in those moments set indoors, during which one of the couples gently bicker or the scene during which the principals first meet up for their group date); while at others the open air, carefree mood is suggestive of Renoir's masterpiece Partie de Campagne, made a decade later. But People on Sunday is a distinct work in its own right, an evocative film made by some stellar talent: the Siodmak brothers, Edgar Ulmer, Billy Wilder and Fred Zimmerman - all of whom would go on to varying degrees of success in the States after fleeing the Nazis. Their film is thus both a record of a time lost, a beautifully shot piece showing a Berlin that was soon to vanish for ever, as well as demonstrating the collaborative talents of some major figures in their early years. There is no hint of the dark years to come seen here, or the debilitating effects of run away inflation which marked the end of the Weimar Republic and led to the inexorable rise of extreme politics. People on Sunday is above such explicit social comment, unless it is political by the mere fact of focusing on ordinary people. It simply tells the tale of a group (played by non professional actors we are informed, but it hard to tell such is the quality of the performances) enjoying themselves while out on one sunny weekend day, picnicking, boating, kissing, promising more to each other and so on, interspersed with more general shots of the German people similarly at play. The skill and pleasure for the viewer today is in the way this is done, completely without ostentation, shot marvelously, everything still feeling fresh, spontaneous and genuine , and with a real feeling for place. Ironically, for this viewer at least, so much of the film seems so natural and fluid that one is more aware that is an illusion; such unforced art as this takes a great deal of time, patience and skill on the part of the participants and creators.

If you want to see more of German cinema from this period, other than more familiar classics, then this is a real treat, being both less known and marvelously restored. The BFI DVD version has been created from several sources and is the longest version available. It also features a splendid Weill-like score, which fits the milieu like a glove and which begs issuing separately as it stands up well as a listen on its own.

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3 utilisateurs sur 3 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Die Glückliche Jahre, 23 octobre 2007
Auteur : dbdumonteil

In France ,Marcel Carné released his first film ,a short ,at about the same time:it was called "Nogent ou l'Eldorado du Dimanche" and it depicted the Parisians' life ,leaving the city for the banks of the Marne river ,spending a wonderful sunny day,then waiting for the next Sunday...

Carné's work was only a short (15 min) whereas Siodmak/Ulmer's film is about one hour and a quarter long.But the subject is the same.The main difference lies in the fact that,being much longer,the script writers could introduce characters .As an user has already pointed out,its games of love and jealousy in the sun ,the picnic and the pedal boat predate Jean Renoir's "Une Partie de Campagne" by six years.But Maupassant's short story was then and "Menschen am Sonntag" is now.Its documentary side is absorbing and should appeal to historians.

With "Menschen" ,a great director,too often forgotten or overlooked,Siodmak was born.Almost everything the man directed -not only the mind-boggling film noirs of the forties but the French ones ("Mister Flow" "Mollenard" "Pièges" ) and the German ones (this one,"Stürme der Leidenschaft" "Brennendes Geheimnis") as well- demands to be watched.

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2 utilisateurs sur 2 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Sunday in Berlin, 12 septembre 2007

Auteur : zolaaar de Berlin, GER

On a Sunday, four young befriended people make an excursion to the lake Wannsee in Berlin to spend their free time in the sun with boat trips, bathing and flirting.

This low budget production demands to remain at the surface of everyday life and to show certain scenes, coincidences and trivialities of it. It is mostly interested in the details and shows the other side of the hectic, restless Berlin - the peace of a summerly Sunday. Here, the people are removed from the daily rush, and it is discernible how the makers agree with their protagonists. They celebrate the self-confidence of the young generation - which is not yet overshadowed by the big crisis at the beginning of the 1930s - and demonstrate the physical joy of life, the carefreeness and playfulness. The other side of this urban way of life is, which apparently only banks on superficialness and the momentary, promiscuity and the wounds coming from this, the harshness and the cold of changing feelings. It's cynically depicted in one long tracking shot over tree-tops (indicating symbolically sexual intercourse) that ends at a pile of thoughtlessly ditched trash.

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3 utilisateurs sur 4 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Beautiful print shown at Sydney Film Festival, 23 juin 2005

Auteur : MatthewInSydney de Australie

*** Ce commentaire peut contenir des spoilers ***

I was lucky enough to see a beautifully restored print of this film shown at this year's Sydney Film Festival, with Ensemble Offspring performing a score by Elena Kats-Chernin. The previous comment on IMDb already explains the main charms of this film. It's a small and lovely film, but it's also easy to feel a little sad while watching it. It'd be nice to think that these Berliners went on year after year having simple sundays like the one portrayed in the film, but that wasn't to be. It's quite easy to feel for these people. As the actors were amateurs, and the plot so simple and unintrusive, it does end up feeling quite close to real life. It's not hard to picture them having a life that extends beyond the end of the film. I particularly liked the scene of an arguing couple, which ends up with them taking their fury out on postcards of each other's favourite movie stars (I noticed Greta Garbo and possibly Harold Llyod amongst them). I also enjoyed the scenes by the water, which are particularly sweet and simple, the scene involving people having their photos taken, and the girl who just wants to stay in bed. This mightn't be one of the great silent classics, but it's an enjoyable experience and very interesting historically. We're very lucky not to have lost it.

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1 utilisateurs sur 1 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
filled with fantastic shots, 23 avril 2009

Auteur : christopher-underwood de Greenwich - London

Marvellous late German silent that anticipates the Italian neo-realists, although I note some claim that this is not realistic at all and may even be showing struggling Berlin through rose tinted glasses. I'm not sure; those fantastic city sequences seem real enough and perhaps the regularly intoned opinion that Hitler was lurking in the shadows of a dispirited people, is itself a little fanciful. In any event this is a great little film filled with fantastic shots, moving street shots of and from moving trams, poetic close-ups of the young folk and a great sense of landscape at the lakeside. As usual with me and silent movies, I seem to get captions I don't need because the action is so obvious and whole sequences of back and forth dialogue left untitled. But just to watch the imagery is good enough and the little trysts, arguments, upsets and loving looks need no titles at all.

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2 utilisateurs sur 3 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
beautifully shot, surprisingly modern performances, 15 octobre 2006

Auteur : neilhargraves de Royaume-Uni

One of the surprising things about this film is the very acute, naturalistic and fundamentally humorous performances from an amateur cast, lacking all the usual strange, exaggerated mannerisms of silent cinema. The other impressive aspect of the film is the beauty of the photography, always playful and probing: the scene where an old man responds to the pompous nationalistic statues in the park is brilliant and affecting, if rather ambiguous. The modern score that was provided in the version I saw was effective and fitting: to be recommended. I agree that it all seems rather unreal, given that it takes place in 1929- yet it strikes me as not so much realistic, as naturalistic: perhaps striving to depict normality in difficult times. A very good and fundamentally humane film, lacking any real plot or suspense, but full of really interesting moments.

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leisure before Adolf Hitler spoiled it, 31 juillet 2009

Auteur : wvisser-leusden de Pays-Bas

This very well restored film provides us with a seldom glimpse of common life in Berlin around 1930. Acted out by four lead amateur participants, all working a modest job in the same city themselves.

The charm of watching 'Menschen am Sonntag' (= German for 'People on Sunday') is much enlarged by our knowledge of what came shortly after wards. In January 1933 Adolf Hitler and his Nazis took power, and changed - to say the least - the atmosphere so well captured in this film.

From Hitler on, Berlin's free flowing spiritual flexibility was gone. It was replaced by rigid Nazi standards, that expelled Jews and promised serious trouble for everyone else not willing to apply.

It's my fair guess that about ten years later the two young male leads from 'Menschen am Sonntag' died as Hitler's soldiers in the Second World War. Its two young females, if they had stayed in Berlin and survived extensive Allied bombing, probably were raped multi fold by Stalin's victorious soldiers in 1945.

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2 utilisateurs sur 5 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Memorable Early Work By Notable Filmmakers, 10 juillet 2005

Auteur : CitizenCaine de Las Vegas, Nevada

*** Ce commentaire peut contenir des spoilers ***

This film is notable as one of the few available examples of work by filmmakers that would later become famous in the United States. The Siodmak brothers, Robert and Curt would later become respected as a director and writer respectively. Robert Siodmak, in a period from 1944-1950, directed some of the best movies in the film noir genre. Curt ended up writing lower budgeted movies, specializing in horror mostly. Edgar G. Ulmer became famous as a cult film director here for several early low budget noir films in the 1940's. Billy Wilder, of course, had a long distinguished career as a writer, director, and producer of films that either satirized American values or had a realistic cynical outlook on life. Fred Zinnemann also had a 40 year plus career as a director of drama and westerns that often contained elements of strong emotional tension and suspense. These five men collaborated on this movie, which is really nothing more than a filmed record of ordinary people spending their free time on Sunday afternoons in Berlin. As the film unfolds in cinema-verite style, we realize these people have aspirations and thoughts similar to just about anyone else. In retrospect, there's the added significance of viewing this being made just prior to Hitler's rise to power. Were these people supportive of Hitler or did they flee the country as the makers of this film did? Were they simply caught in between and then had to make the best of it? This is an interesting curio for film buffs, but others won't find it to be much. **1/2 of 4 stars.

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