Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15291/SIC/2.7.LC.4
Kad ljubav ne može umrijeti... Ljubav i destruktivni diskurs u filmskim adaptacijama drame Friedricha Dürrenmatta Posjet stare dame
Sonja Novak
; Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek
Abstract
The paper analyses film adaptations of the play Der Besuch der alten Dame written by the Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt with special focus on how they thematise love. Dürrenmatt’s play is in its essence a tragic comedy that deals with the issue of greed and the distortion of basic moral values such as honesty and sincerity that are then also turned into greed, culminating in the justification of violence and murder for profit. The film adaptations that are analysed in the paper are the German version from 1959, the American version from 1964, and the newest German version from 2008. The analysis shows that the American and the newest German version do not adhere to the original pattern in terms of representing the love and relationship between the two main characters, Claire and Alfred. It is important to stress that love is the trigger that directs the plot to its end. The role that love plays in the film adaptations is the key factor that influences whether the end is tragic or not, which depends also on the historic, social, and cultural context in which the adaptations were filmed. Furthermore, the paper includes an analysis of the metamorphosis of a love that cannot die into a love that cannot be sustained: Eros, powered by the libido of the main characters Claire and Alfred in the past, slowly progresses until it turns into the destructive death drive of Thanatos. The analysis simultaneously explores to what extent each film adaptation imitates the original destructive discourse of love present in Dürrenmatt’s play.
Keywords
love; film adaptations; tragic comedy; Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Hrčak ID:
183097
URI
Publication date:
15.6.2017.
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