Matthias Schweighöfer: "Marcel Reich-Ranicki was very polite to me"

The deportation of Jews from the ghetto begins. Marcel (Matthias Schweighöfer, l.) And Tosia (Katharina Schüttler, r.) Have to line up.

Matthias Schweighöfer: "Marcel Reich-Ranicki was very polite to me"

Is a dream, can not really be that we are two together. "

The autobiography ends with this quote from Hugo von Hofmannsthal "My Life" by Marcel Reich-Ranicki, "We two" - that's what he and his beloved wife Tosia mean, who have been together for seventy years. And indeed it is a dream, a miracle, that both together have survived everything. For the Reich Ranickis lived during the Second World War in the notorious Warsaw Ghetto - a kind of catch basin for Polish Jews, who were deported from there to the concentration camps. This is what happened to Marcel's parents and brother as well as Tosia's mother, who died in agony in the concentration camp. But Marcel Reich-Ranicki managed to escape together with his wife. And although the Germans had done him so much, the native Pole, who had gone to school in Berlin and 1938 was expelled from Germany, returned and began as a literary critic at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Because the love of German literature had given him strength during all the hard times. He wanted to dedicate his life to her now.

Marcel Reich-Ranicki and Matthias Schweighöfer at the presentation of the film project in Cologne.

Matthias Schweighöfer plays Marcel Reich-Ranicki

Ten years after the publication of the autobiography, WDR has made a film adaptation of the book by producer Katharina Trebitsch. The main role is playing Matthias Schweighofer, known from films such as Valkyrie, The Red Baron and No-Ear Bunnies.

"Can he really play Marcel Reich-Ranicki? The great literary pope, who likes to polarize and tease, where he can?", Many will probably have wondered. Clear answer: Yes, he can! And so impressive, so alive and so critical that he completely captivates the viewer. He left out the typical rolling R for Reich-Ranicki, Matthias Schweighöfer tells us in an interview, because he did not want to parody Marcel Reich-Ranicki.

Matthias Schweighöfer becomes Marcel Reich-Ranicki.

Marcel Reich-Ranicki - many today only know him as the man with the unmistakable accent. He does not mince his words and with the rendition of the German Television Prize he points out old show bunnies like Thomas Gottschalk in the back seats with a rant. With "My Life" the viewer now has the chance to get to know him from a completely different side and relive his destiny with him. An important piece of television history that should not be missed.

Incidentally, Marcel Reich-Ranicki himself praised the film as "fabulous". That should have convinced even the last.

"Marcel Reich-Ranicki: My Life" runs on Wednesday, April 15, at 8.15 pm in the first.

Marcel (Matthias Schweighöfer) will marry Tosia today.

All in black, his blond hair mussed: This is how Matthias Schweighöfer stands before us when we meet him in Hamburg for an interview, He's looking forward to Berlin, he tells us, because he spent weeks in the US traveling to shoot his new movie. Of course, he still takes his time for us and chats about his encounter with Marcel Reich-Ranicki and how he experienced Tom Cruise in "Valkyrie". And is really sympathetic with his Berlin snout.

Interview with Matthias Schweighöfer

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde Young Miss: You play Marcel Reich-Ranicki in the eponymous film. What did you know about him before?

Matthias Schweighöfer: I only knew him from the Literary Quartet and until then I had not dealt with his past. And then I read "my life". This totally changed my opinion about him.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde Young Miss: Did the book impress you?

Matthias Schweighöfer: Yes. Alone, that he has survived the ghetto, is just madness. He got only on the face. It's clear that he'll spend a bit afterwards.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde Young Miss: How else did you prepare for the role?

Matthias Schweighöfer: I have dealt a lot with the Jewish side and the Warsaw Ghetto. And Katharina (actress Katharina Schüttler, who plays Reich-Ranicki's wife Tosia, note d.Red.) And I have met with Marcel and Tosia a few times to see how the two deal with each other. Whether they are friendly to each other or not. You can learn a lot about two people about it. We also asked a lot: How did you kiss? How did you touch? Were you very physical? And when they said yes, we knew: Okay, they were just like us.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde Young Miss: And were you warm to each other?

Matthias Schweighöfer: They were both. They were joking, but also very sweet to each other when they talked about their time together.

Matthias Schweighöfer: "Tom Cruise is a great guy"

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde Young Miss: And how was Marcel Reich-Ranicki to you?

Matthias Schweighöfer: We both wanted something from each other, so he was very polite to me. He knew that I was playing him and I knew that I needed him to understand my role better.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde Young Miss: Did he know you from other roles?

Matthias Schweighöfer: He had only seen a movie in which I had played Schiller. And he thought he was shit.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde Young Miss: Did he have any influence on the style during the movie?

Matthias Schweighöfer: No, he gave it completely and said: "Make it a movie, it just should not be boring!". I liked that somehow.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde Young Miss: You've made some pretty violent scenes in the ghetto. Can you still switch off well after a day's shooting?

Matthias Schweighöfer: The role was quite difficult. But of course you try to switch off in the evening and not hold on to it that much. What happened then is so far away and absurd for us today. You can not believe the implications.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde Young Miss: You've just been to see "Valkyrie". What was it like to do with Tom Cruise?

Matthias Schweighöfer: Great! Tom Cruise is a totally nice, funny, cool guy. I laughed a lot with him and really liked him.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde Young Miss: And what's next?

Matthias Schweighöfer: Right now we are shooting "Keinohrhasen 2" in Berlin. Then there will be two other films in the cinema this year: "Twelve meters without a head" and "Friendship". And I will be a dad in two months! These are but now many things at once ...

Das wilde Leben (May 2024).