Gunnar Hedes saga / The Blizzard / Die Herrenhofsage

Loosely based on a novel by Selma Lagerlöf, the film tells the story of a young man living in an old manor house. His destiny is influenced by stories about his grandfather, who was a reindeer herder in wintery Lapland and built the family fortune selling the animals for a good price. Nothing is left of that wealth; the estate is facing bankruptcy. When the grandson attempts to emulate his ancestor, he gets caught in a blizzard and loses not only his herd, but also his mind... $Unforgettable is the famous flight of the reindeer herd, with the lead animal dragging herdsman Gunnar behind him. For hours and hours we seem to witness the desperate chase.% (Siegfried Kracauer, 1938). Thomas Mann praised the film’s $psychological insight into the nature of craziness as a refuge and dodging mechanism% after himself using the motif of $illness as escapism% in $The Magic Mountain%. The film will be shown with live musical accompaniment by Lina Gronemeyer (clarinet) and Frederik Sturm (piano).