Der Pfarrer von St Pauli (tr. “The Priest of St. Pauli”, 1970) did not see an English language release and Curd Jürgens plays - yep, you guessed it - a Catholic priest.
As a U Boat commander in WW2 during an apparently hopeless situation, he had pledged to dedicate his life to God should he survive it.
And survive it he did and as a result he now runs a church in St Pauli.
When a small gangster confesses to a murder he had committed, Jürgens’ character is forced to obey the seal of confession and is thrown between the local Italian Mafia, the police investigating the case and the ladies of the night.
Heinz Reincke by now is a familiar sight in those films and Dieter Borsche appears in a small supporting role yet again as a benevolent priest. (What is it with Olsen’s fascination with Borsche as a Man of the Lord? Did he watch Dead Eyes of London too often?)
Jürgens’ persona is that of a good uncle that everyone turns to but also as a person of respect who can hold himself in a bar fight.
This is again more of a drama than a full on Krimi though it does feature strong Krimi elements throughout a good portion of its running time.
And then the film does a 180 degree turnaround: When the priest gets transferred to a remote island where he is openly not wanted by locals who are set in their ways, he needs to fight for acceptance. The film subsequently turns a) preachy and b) comical (or at least attempts to). Only a life boat rescue mission earns him the respect he deserves.
Overall enjoyable but too much of a mess that tries to please everyone in the audience by throwing nuggets of various unrelated genre tropes around its plot.
To be continued….
No comments:
Post a Comment