Silke B (zorarose)

FÄHRMANN MARIA

Germany 1936
Director: Frank Wisbar, Book: Hans Jürgen Nierentz and Frank Wisbar, Camera: Franz Weihmayr, Music: Herbert Windt.

With: Sybille Schmitz, Aribert Mog, Peter Voß, Carl de Vogt, Karl Platen, Gerhard Bienert, Eduard Wenck.

"Fährmann Maria" is one of the darkest and most gloomy movies I have ever watched.

One day, a young girl (Sybille Schmitz) comes to a little village. She carries all her belongings in a cloth and she is looking for work. No one is willing to give her work, since she has no passport. Only one major has a job to offer. Rumours have been around, that the old ferryman died under mysterious circumstances and no one was willing to become the new ferryman since. The young girl Maria takes the job. Her little shed is surrounded by bog and heather and the dark and gloomy weather that come with it.

Maria works the ferry by her own power, and that ferry is the connection between two worlds. Her shore, and the other shore.

Late at night, the bell chimes and Maria picks up a wounded man on the other side. Mounted soldiers are trying to get him. Through the dark, Maria takes him to her shore and saves him from dying. She falls in love with the man from the other shore.

The next evening the bell chimes again and Maria pulls over to get the passenger. A man, dressed in black, with eyes like they were made of steel enters the ferry, and Maria knows it is Death himself, who wants to take the man she loves. So she decides to fool the Death.

She takes the Death to the village, where they are celebrating a festival. A very rustic one. And everyone understands at once, that the man in black is someone to be afraid of. Everyone shies back from him, the farmers as well as the drunken fiddler. The Death seems to trust Maria to show him the right man and Maria tries everything to take him further away from the man she loves, and to make him take someone else but him.

But is Death so easy to fool?

The bog and the dark clouds create the gloomy atmosphere just as much, as the fact that this movie is a very silent one. There is not much talking to hear. Some people just don't talk and other make you read the words from their lips.

I am sure, that "Fährmann Maria" is the only German movie of it's kind from the 1930's. It is one of the most unique movies, too and I highly recommend you watch it!

Joyce Heath: "It's either going to be your life or mine. If you're killed, I'll be free. If I'm killed it really doesn't matter. If we both die- good riddance!"

I love the first 65 minutes of "Dangerous". Joyce Heath (Bette Davis) is a drunken, yelling, self-denying actress. She used to be the best theatre-actress of her decade, but all her fame and talent could not defend her from self-destruction. Joyce meets Don Bellows (Franchot Tone) a fan, who pities her. He wants to help her to get back to life. And he is willing to give up his own, successful life for her. Something Joyce likes very much. She knows how to pull the strings to get what she wants. And she is gorgeous while acting so mean.

Bette Davis is awesome as the nasty Joyce Heath. And if this movie weren't a post-code movie, it would have been worth five stars. Fucking production code!! I hate the ending! You better stop reading here, if you plan to watch "Dangerous" someday...

...if not: here are the reasons, why I hate the ending:
It is corny, dull and so fucking unrealistic! It would have been perfect, if Joyce and her invidious husband would have died in the planned accident. And it would have been satisfying, if only Gorden would have died and Joyce would have gotten what she wanted so badly. But this "happy-sappy" ending? Puke. Why, for fuck's sake, had Don to marry his society-bitch he left for Joyce. And why did Joyce have to crawl back to her husband? Yes, I know...the code. The code destroyed this movie.