My Heart Is Mine Alone

– Helma Sanders-Brahms directs this inventive film that uses the verse of Jewish poet Else Lasker-Sch..

Type:
Movie
Rating:
5.60 / 10
Duration:
One Hour and 30 Minutes
Release Year:
1997
Original Name:
Mein Herz - Niemandem!
My Heart Is Mine Alone (1997) - Also known as Mein Herz - Niemandem!

Helma Sanders-Brahms directs this inventive film that uses the verse of Jewish poet Else Lasker-Schüler and Nazi poet Gottfried Benn to dramatize the passionate, real-life affair between the two unlikely lovers. Forced out of Germany, Lasker-Schüler makes her way to Jerusalem even as Benn discovers the true nature of the Nazi ideology he had once championed. Lena Stolze and Cornelius Obonya star.

Producing Country:
Filming Locations:
Genre:
Release Date:

17 Sep 1997

Language:

German

Director:

Helma Sanders-Brahms

Writer:

Helma Sanders-Brahms

Main Actors:

Nicolai Albrecht, Janina Berge, Dagmar Bertram, Klaus Bunk

Plot:

The life of Jewish Expressionist poet and performance artist, Else Lasker-Schüler (1869-1945), told chronologically in vignettes given context by archival footage of turn-of-the-century Germany, World War I, and the ascent of the Third Reich. Her poetry often comprises the soundtrack. We see her in relation to men: her first husband, whom she leaves after her son is born; artists like Chagall and Franz Marc; an older muse and then a second husband; and, Gottfried Benn (1886 - 1956), physician and poet. Benn's life is also chronicled: homosexual encounters, his attraction to Else and the Berlin scene, and his politics. Her poems addressed to him define this cultural moment.

Awards:

2 nominations.

Production:

Facets Video

Ratings:
Internet Movie Database:
5.9/10