People On Sunday details
| Format: | Ex DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Billy Wilder, Brigitte Borchert, Annie Schreyer, Fred Zinnemann, Edgar G. Ulmer |
| Directors: | Curt Siodmak, Robert Siodmak |
| Genres: | Documentary - General, World Cinema - German |
| Studio: | BFI VIDEO |
| Original title | Menschen am Sonntag |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
People On Sunday |
Ex Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 1 hour 13 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | 25 Apr 2005 |
| Main languages: | Silent |
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Most helpful review
Excellent silent film from a golden age
By FilmFlanuer (45 reviews) from London , 30 Mar 2006[Highly rated reviewer]
If you enjoy classic silent cinema then you won't want to miss this. At times the odd scene is reminiscent of Vidor's The Crowd, made just the year before; at others the 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, a gentle, evocative film made by some stellar talent. Involved in the project were 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 film showing a Berlin that was soon to vanish for ever, as well as that of several major talents in their early years. But there is no sign of the dark years to come to be seen here, or any of the debilitating effects of run away inflation which marked the end of this era and led to the rise of extreme politics. People on Sunday is above social comment unless it is political by focusing on ordinary people. It simply tells the tale of a group (non professional actors we are informed, but it hard to tell) enjoying themselves 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 is in the way this is done, completely without ostentation, shot marvellously, everything still feeling fresh, spontaneous and genuine, and done with a real feeling for place. If you want to see more of German cinema from this period other than, say, Diary of Lost Girl, Der Golem or the other more familiar classics, then this is a real treat.
This DVD version has been created from several sources and is the longest version available. It also features a splendidly Weill-like score which fits the milieu like a glove.- Was this review helpful to you?
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(5)The last great film of pre-Nazi Germany?
By a customer , 18 Apr 2011This wonderful film captures Berlin only moments before the Great Darkness of Nazism descended on it. A simple tale - quite literally about people on Sunday, taking things easy, away from the week's work - is the product of men who would later cross the Atlantic to produce great work in Hollywood - most notably Billy Wilder. Not just a great film, but a film that quite by accident became a documentary on a life about to be ripped to shreds.- Was this review helpful to you?
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What we lost when cinema got sound
By a customer from Glasgow, Scotland , 08 Oct 2007This beautiful film isn't about much - Berliners go to the lake for some relaxation and a bit of flirting - but it's gentle understanding and love for humanity had me grinning from beginning to end. There's a universality about its effect, as a silent, that can't ever really be equalled by a movie with words. If you're interested in film, you have to see this.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Classic German film
By Cato (705 reviews) from Lydbury North , 05 Sep 2007This is classic German cinema at its very best. As well as having some of Hollywood's greatest directors, e.g. Billy Wilder and Fred Zinnemann working on the film as writer and production assistant, it is a seminal piece of cinema history which should be viewed by every lover of the history of the medium. The copy has been remastered and is crystal clear (despite some of the original film having been lost). It centres around a Sunday outing in Berlin by a young married man and his friend, who pick up two girls and go to the lake. As one of the reviewers has said, not much has changed in the ways of the world. The street scenes of Berlin are fascinating and the cinematography superb. A great film. Accompanying it is a British Rail film about an outing from Leicester to London in 1949. Not nearly as well done but interesting in its own rather mundane way.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Excellent silent film from a golden age
By FilmFlanuer (45 reviews) from London , 30 Mar 2006If you enjoy classic silent cinema then you won't want to miss this. At times the odd scene is reminiscent of Vidor's The Crowd, made just the year before; at others the 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, a gentle, evocative film made by some stellar talent. Involved in the project were 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 film showing a Berlin that was soon to vanish for ever, as well as that of several major talents in their early years. But there is no sign of the dark years to come to be seen here, or any of the debilitating effects of run away inflation which marked the end of this era and led to the rise of extreme politics. People on Sunday is above social comment unless it is political by focusing on ordinary people. It simply tells the tale of a group (non professional actors we are informed, but it hard to tell) enjoying themselves 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 is in the way this is done, completely without ostentation, shot marvellously, everything still feeling fresh, spontaneous and genuine, and done with a real feeling for place. If you want to see more of German cinema from this period other than, say, Diary of Lost Girl, Der Golem or the other more familiar classics, then this is a real treat.
This DVD version has been created from several sources and is the longest version available. It also features a splendidly Weill-like score which fits the milieu like a glove.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (4) Yes |
- No (0)
A lost world
By David Ions from London , 29 Nov 2005This is mainly fascinating for its footage of a pre-Great Depression, pre-Nazi Germany. There is a plot but it's rather slight, so don't watch it for the story but for its glimpses of the everyday lives of Berliners in the late 20s.- Was this review helpful to you?
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