RTL Group | Berlin, 08/22/2019

‘A Crazy Night’ On Screen – A Wonderful Night Off Screen

A thousand film fans watched the restored silent film “A Crazy Night” (German original: “Eine tolle Nacht”) on Berlin’s Museum Island on the opening night of the “UFA Film Nights.” Before the screening, Bertelsmann and UFA hosted a reception for nearly 400 guests from the film and cultural communities, from society and politics. This is the ninth edition of the silent film festival on Berlin’s Museum Island.

When the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin glows in an atmospheric red at dusk and a large screen with numerous rows of chairs promises a very special cinema experience right beside it, many passers-by on Museum Island feel compelled to stop, take out their smartphones, and capture the beautiful sight with their cameras. This was also the case last night evening, when Bertelsmann and UFA opened their “UFA Film Nights” on Kolonnadenhof for the ninth time. Around a thousand visitors flocked to the silent film festival, which is already a fixture on the German capital’s cultural agenda, and experienced a truly great night under the stars on a beautiful, warm summer’s eve.

“A Crazy Night” was the title of the silent film classic that took the Berlin audience on an offbeat journey back in time to the wild 1920s last night. With its witticisms, its hilarious cast, and a lot of clowning around, the movie from 1926 still ensured an upbeat atmosphere and lots of laughs even today – and without a single spoken word. The classic, long believed lost and then rediscovered in the State Russian Film Archive Gosfilmofond, was digitally restored this year and the revised version was screened for the first time at the “UFA Film Nights.” Another premiere was the new musical score composed by Frido ter Beek and the internationally renowned Dutch pianist Maud Nelissen, commissioned by ZDF and Arte. Last night, it was performed live by the film orchestra The Sprockets, which had already delighted the audience at the UFA Film Nights 2018 with its musical accompaniment to “Apaches of Paris”. And finally, this year’s edition of Bertelsmann and UFA’s silent film festival featured yet another first: For the first time, there was not only live music, but also live singing at a screening, because film and pop composer Fred Raymond, together with Austin Egen, had written hits such as “Verzeih mir und sei wieder gut” (Forgive me and be nice again) and “Es muss nicht immer Hummer sein” (It doesn’t always have to be Lobster) for “A Crazy Night” – much to the delight of today’s audiences as well.

The fascination of silent movies

“Silent films have lost nothing of their fascination in over a century. They still delight and inspire people today, as can be seen from the extremely positive response of Berlin film fans to the ninth UFA Film Nights,” said Bertelsmann’s Chairman & CEO, commenting on the importance of silent film. “As Europe’s largest media company and the entrepreneurial home of UFA, Bertelsmann feels a special responsibility to preserve the creative achievements of past generations. That is why we actively work to safeguard Germany’s silent-movie heritage, by digitally restoring silent films threatened by decay and presenting them to a broad audience.”

UFA CEO Nico Hofmann added: “I’m delighted that the UFA Film Nights have become such a popular brand in Berlin’s summertime cultural scene. With this event series, we provide a prominent platform for the unique visual, aesthetic and technical innovativeness of Weimar film, which UFA played a major role in shaping at the time.”

Before the screening on Berlin’s Museum Island, Bertelsmann and the UFA welcomed nearly 400 guests to a reception at Bertelsmann Unter den Linden 1. Their guests included numerous well-known actresses and actors, cultural figures, and personages from politics and society. Besides the actor Uwe Ochsenknecht, who introduced the movie, and the celebrated DJ Jeff Mills, who will provide the score to this evening’s screening of the silent movie “Woman in the Moon” (German original: “Frau im Mond”), actors Dennenesch Zoudé, Samuel Finzi, Daniel Donskoy, Burghart Klaußner, Inka Friedrich, Maria Ehrich, and Hans-Werner Meyer also attended. Other guests included well-known representatives of the cultural scene including the President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Prof. Dr. Hermann Parzinger, and the artistic director of the Berliner Ensemble, Oliver Reese, as well as the Chairman of the Board of Axel Springer SE, Mathias Döpfner, several ambassadors, and other prominent media representatives.

Karin Schlautmann, Head of Bertelsmann Corporate Communications, welcomed the guests to the rooftop terrace at the Group’s Berlin premises. “Bertelsmann is committed to bringing the creative achievements of the past into our time, and to keep celebrating the successes of the past and bringing them to life today,” she emphasized, and also pointed out the silent film festival’s significance beyond Berlin: “We now host ‘UFA Film Nights’ in Brussels, Madrid and even New York. It is a truly international event.”

‘Rom-com cinema’ of the silent-film era

Equipped with blankets – because in spite of the summery day, temperatures dropped quickly in the evening – at half past eight, the guests walked the few steps from the representative office to the venue on Museum Island. Actor Uwe Ochsenknecht greeted them there and gave an introduction to the evening’s movie. “ ‘A Crazy Night’ is popcorn cinema of the silent-film era. Free of any deeper meaning, lusty and offbeat and yet completely harmless,” he explained. “The movie is comedy pure and simple. And if you look closely, even the actors’ facial expressions reveal that they were having a lot of fun at work.”

The audience in Berlin clearly shared in this fun yesterday, “A Crazy Night” was accompanied by nearly constant laughter during the screening – and the applause at the end even included some appreciative whistles. Based on a popular musical revue of the imperial era, Richard Oswald tells the story of an insecticide manufacturer from the provinces goes to Berlin, following a vaudeville star he has a crush on, and gets caught up in a maelstrom of voluntary and involuntary adventures. He meets revue girls, policemen, Indian rajahs, and professional wrestlers. The settings switch between glittering restaurants and dance cafés to utter dives and police stations. Filmed at original locations, Oswald’s film also provides an impressive portrait of the metropolis of four million with its hectic hustle and bustle, construction sites, and social contrasts.

Anyone who didn’t manage to get a ticket this year – which could easily happen, as tickets for the first two “UFA Film Nights” evenings were sold out shortly after they went on sale – was able to watch a live stream of the opening night on the Facebook channels of ARTE Concert, Bertelsmann, and UFA, starting at about 9 p.m. ARTE will also be televising the restored silent film with the new music on August 26, 2019.

More Silents in the Lineup

This evening, the “UFA Film Nights 2019” will feature Fritz Lang’s epochal and technically far-sighted masterpiece “Woman in the Moon” (original German title: “Frau im Mond”). DJ legend Jeff Mills will supply the music, having reworked the score he had already created for this, one of Ufa’s most famous films. Mills had already provided the musical accompaniment for “Metropolis” at the 2017 “UFA Film Nights.” Friedemann Beyer, film historian and curator of the “UFA Film Nights,” will give the audience an overview of the significance of “Woman in the Moon.”

Tomorrow – 100 years to the month after its premiere at the opening of Berlin’s Zoo-Palast – Ernst Lubitsch’s revolutionary epic “Madame Dubarry” will be on the program. The music will be provided by Ekkehard Wölk and the Ensemble Ancien Régime, performing a new composition by Ekkehard Wölk. Friedemann Beyer will introduce this movie as well. Anyone wishing to experience the special atmosphere of the “UFA Film Nights” will have a final opportunity tomorrow: a few tickets are still available for the event on Friday evening. In September, Bertelsmann and UFA will once again host the “UFA Film Nights” in Brussels as well – and audiences will once again be treated to another crazy/wonderful night.