Der Monat der fallenden Blätter

(The Month of Falling Leaves) 1968

 

Director: Dietrich Haugk

 

Writers: Herbert Asmodi (teleplay); Bruce Marshall (novel)

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Rôle: Erster Geheimagent

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Broadcast: 10 March 1968 Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) Germany

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Synopsis: When British philosopher Harold Hilliard takes off for Warsaw to lecture on the Dysteleological Surd, he has no idea that he will soon become embroiled in international espionage. During the trip he tries to open a suitcase he mistakes for his own. When a fellow passenger, a Pole with stainless steel teeth, takes umbrage, Hilliard puts it down to bad manners, but when the same man sees him pick up the wrong coat in the plane, Hilliard realises that he is suspected of spying. The party at the airport to welcome Hilliard only convinces the Polish agent that the British Secret Service was now picking its men with extraordinary cleverness. Hilliard, whose works are little known in England, is warmed by unaccustomed praise but chilled by the apparent certainty of the counter espionage people that he is a British agent whose code name was Whale.

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Reviews: Gong 10/1968, page 32 on the first broadcast: "A cheerful and grotesque game based on a novel by the English author Bruce Marshall."

 

Bild + Funk 12/1968, page 10 gives four (good) out of five stars: "A supplier like the novelist Bruce Marshall, a playwright known for his sharp pen like Herbert Asmodi and a director like Dietrich Haugk - what could possibly go wrong? So after a somewhat slow start, an enjoyable story was unwound. Undisputed star: E.F. Fürbringer. The cameraman also deserves special praise."

 

Hörzu 12/1968, page 12: "A friendly announcer announced the television game as an 'ironic game' [...] As far as the cast was concerned, the suspicion that this could be the highlight of the week did not seem unjustified. Still, the falling leaves would have been the disappointment of the week. As far as irony goes, this must have been a particularly subtle species. Televisor, at any rate, was seldom able to spot it."

 

Gong 13/1968, page 73: "It's a pretty story in itself, mildly melancholic to tenderly cheerful, by no means a Bond spectacle, no spy thriller, much more of a chamber play, quiet and cautious in human terms. The ironic little agent game based on the innocent pattern: Sardine sucht Whale makes no claim to reality. However, the cinematic realism that director Dietrich Haugk tried to do didn't fit in. Haugk couldn't get the poetic story under control. That should have been put into the picture with a very light hand. It's a pity, because Ernst Fritz Fürbringer and Kornelia Boje were the sensitive cast of the main roles."

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Availability: Available for purchase from Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) Germany.