30 Years ago Fassbinders great TV Serial Berlin Alexanderplatz was screened in New York. The audience was impressed and compared Leading Man Günter Lamprecht with Emil Jannings. Emil who?
Sometimes it seems as if the Era of great German Actors ist over. That means that it should be a duty to remember the great Artists coming from that Country who amazed their audience. In Germany itself, only the Bourgeois People interested in Theatre or Film and the Acedemic Art Researchers still know the name Emil Jannings.
Starting as stage Actor, Jannings was supported at the Silent Movie Industry by Directors Ernst Lubitsch and Josef von Sternberg, he also was in luck to work with Murnau and became a famous Star. His style was the "male" type, strong, masculine and extroverted, but he also could appear shy and sensitive,changing from role to role.
For a short Time he worked in Hollywood and got the very 1st Oscar for the Best Male Leading Role. His position in the 3rd Reich is debated controversal now of course, but Actors bound to their Language didnt have many other choices, for example Jannings coudnt continue his Hollywood Career when the Silent Era ended because of his accent (his Father was an US-American Businessman, but he spend his childhood in Switzerland and Germany).
Without any doubt he was not just another Performer with a huge impressive Body but also one of the greatest Character Actors in German Film History. He died in 1950.
The Filmclub Akasava tries of organize a Retrospective in Cologne in 2013. (fb)
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