June 2002 - Nr. 6
Film to Offer Fresh Insights into Martin Luther’s Life
TWIG - Martin Luther transformed the Christian world with his burning faith and fierce sense of religious justice. He was also a man of intractable physical passions. For the German film company neue filmproduktion Berlin and Canadian director Eric Till, that is reason enough to make him the subject of a multi-million-dollar film. Till and the production team are in Germany this spring shooting a new biography of the religious reformer starring British actor Joseph Fiennes, best known for his role in the 1998 blockbuster Shakespeare in Love.
Filmed on location in Wittenberg (Saxony-Anhalt), where Luther famously posted his 95 theses, and at other historic sites in Thuringia, Bavaria and Rome, the production will focus on Luther’s transformation from a devout Augustinian monk to a religious rebel who challenged church authorities. Fiennes will make the most of his radiant screen presence to portray the young Luther’s spiritual struggles, as well as his love affair with Katharina von Bora, a nun who eventually left her order and became the reformer’s wife. "Luther’s vision of life and his unshakeable faith caused the collapse of the ruling order - and 500 years later our life is still affected by it." That, says Berlin media publicist Julia Kainz, is the historic drama that drives the film.
The international cast includes British luminary Peter Ustinov and German film stars Bruno Ganz and Alfred Molina. Funded by the Aid Association for Lutheran/Lutheran Brotherhood, with additional support from Germany’s Institute for the Promotion of Film and the Film Board of Berlin-Brandenburg, the picture will have its world premiere in U.S. theatres in 2003.
