Coup de Grâce (1976 film)

Coup de Grâce
Directed by	Volker Schlöndorff
Produced by	Eberhard Junkersdorf Anatole Dauman
Written by	Jutta Brückner Margarethe von Trotta Geneviève Dormann
Starring	Margarethe von Trotta Matthias Habich Rüdiger Kirschstein
Music by	Stanley Myers
Cinematography	Igor Luther
Editing by	Jane Sperr
Distributed by	Cinema 5 Distributing
Release date(s)	October 22, 1976 (West Germany) February 5, 1978 (US)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	West Germany France
Language	German French

Coup de Grâce (German: Der Fangschuß, French: Le Coup de grâce) is a 1976 New German film directed by Volker Schlöndorff. It was adapted from the novel by the same name by the French author Marguerite Yourcenar. The title comes from the French expression, meaning "finishing blow".

Synopsis

In 1919 Latvia, a detachment of German soldiers is stationed in a chateau in the town of Kratovice to fight Bolshevik guerrillas. The chateau is the home of the soldier Konrad de Reval and his sister Sophie de Reval. Sophie is attracted to another soldier, a close friend of Konrad's named Erich von Lhomond. However, the reticent Erich rebuffs her advances. In retaliation, Sophie has trysts with other members of the military troop. Erich is noticeably angered by her behavior. Eventually, Sophie learns that Erich and Konrad are lovers. After this discovery, she joins the leftist guerrillas, whom she had been in contact with previously. Erich's soldiers capture her and her comrades. Sophie asks that Erich execute her himself, and he obliges. In a striking single tracking shot, we see Erich casually shoot Sophie in the head before joining in a photo with the other soldiers. As all board a train, the camera pans back to the corpses of the executed.

Adaptation

The events of the novel are seen from the point-of-view of the soldier Erich von Lhomond. However, the main character of the film is Sophie de Reval, played by Margarethe von Trotta, who also co-wrote the screenplay. The filmmakers felt that an audience of 1976 would more readily identify with the independence and resolve exhibited by Sophie than with Erich's repressed conservatism.^{[citation needed]}

In addition, the Russian Civil War is only a vague backdrop in the novel, but the film depicts battlefield engagements with a brutal reality that makes the war a significant presence.

External links

• Criterion Collection essay by Hans-Bernhard Moeller and George Lellis
• Coup de Grâce at Rotten Tomatoes
• Coup de Grâce at AllRovi
• Coup de Grâce at the Internet Movie Database