Merkur
By Tanja Brinkmann
7/10/2023
[A great love: Journalist Petra Beinert (Tatjana Pokorny, left) tells Claudia (Melanie Cohn) about Hella and Pierre Brice. © Thomas Sehr]
It was a challenge that Tatjana Pokorny and Matthias Weckmann took on. Luckily. In the Small Theatre they show "Pierre Brice – My Life and Winnetou". A touching tribute to the legendary Frenchman. There was much, well-deserved applause for the premiere on Saturday.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen – It lives on. In the hearts of his wife, in the memory of his fans – and in the Small Theatre in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. With an impressive, very touching homage to Pierre Brice, the ensemble around the junior directors Tatjana Pokorny and Matthias Weckmann has erected a monument to the legendary Winnetou actor. With standing ovations and shouts of bravo, the audience in the sold-out house celebrated the premiere on Saturday. For Hella Brice, who experienced the evening with one of her triplet sisters, Hummy Wisgickl, nieces, nephews and many friends, "it was a dream come true".
Two chairs, a table and a large screen – the perfect equipment to bring the eventful life of the charming Frenchman to the stage. An undertaking that Pokorny, who directed and appeared in several roles, was initially reluctant to do. Hella Brice, whom she has known for years and who, like the actor, is one of the people of her heart, approached her with the idea of adapting a play from her husband's estate. However, the "one-man show", of which three scenes had already been finished, proved to be unrealizable. In the end, the main actor was no longer available. "And no one else can play Pierre Brice," Pokorny emphasizes. Instead, she and her husband resorted to his autobiography "Winnetou and I – My True Life". One advantage was that Brice had recorded many passages of it with his dictaphone. Thus, the director and the author were able to draw from countless audio cassettes, texts, photos and many private documents. The result: a full-length play that brings the audience closer to the actor and, above all, to the people. Goosebumps, laughter and tears included.
Actors convince with a lot of depth
Actors convince with a lot of depth
Eight outstanding actors – Lilian Weckmann, Benedikt Ehrenberg, Pokorny, Moritz Mayr, Helena Weckmann, Harald Ehrenberg, Melanie Cohn and Georg Löcherer – who slip into several roles, bring the story of Pierre Louis Baron le Bris to life. With depth. His voice can be heard again and again – with a charming French accent. "You have to write down your memories as long as you can remember." Pierre Brice did it. Luckily.
His little paradise in Brittany is "suddenly surrounded by hell". The boy was eleven years old when the Nazis invaded. "Under the cover of my youthful naivety" he becomes a messenger boy of the Resistance. He shoots the enemy with a slingshot, later falls in love with a German translator who appears in the shadow play – a brilliant move by Pokorny – and helps a Wehrmacht soldier escape. He sees the people, realizes that you can't lump them all together.
Pierre Brice first sought his fortune as an actor in Rome
"It's important to take a stand against
xenophobia," Brice said. "I never asked about nationality." He
joins the military, fights in the Indochina War, and on his return to Paris
decides to become an actor. The hoped-for engagements fail to materialize.
Instead, he works as a model, including for Vogue, and as an acrobatic dancer.
The dilemma: He looks too much like his friend Alain Delon. So he tries his
luck in Rome. "Italian film has been waiting for him," says his agent
Irene (Pokorny). It is also she who brings him into play for the role of
Winnetou. "I had never heard of Karl May, and I didn't find the idea of
playing an Indian chief very tempting," Brice said. In the end, he was
convinced that Lex Barker had already agreed. The rest is film history.
[Remembering the atrocities of the Bosnian war (from left) Moritz Mayr as well as Lilian and Helena Weckmann. © Thomas Sehr]
Winnetou becomes a legend. Among his fans is 14-year-old
Hella Krekel. She becomes the love of his life, with whom he has lived for over
35 years. Private, very touching photos prove their connection. And trust. She
reads out a letter she wrote to Pierre when he left for the civil war zone in
1995 with an aid convoy for Bosnian children. It is also these recordings, just
like those of Hermann Giefer, who worked closely with Brice for four years at
the Karl May Festival in Bad Segeberg and was friends with him, that make up
the piece.
[Enthusiastic: Actress Julia Kent, who often appeared in front of the camera with Pierre Brice, and her daughter Bernadette. © Tanja Brinkmann]
The thunderous applause testified to the enthusiasm of the audience for the premiere. Claudia Haddad found the evening "perfect". She had travelled from Leverkusen with her mother. With red T-shirts adorned with a picture of the charismatic Frenchman, they showed that they are fans. And we have been doing so for 50 years. "Down-to-earth, amiable and warm," Haddad describes the actor, who has never caused a stir around himself. One who stood up for values such as peace, friendship and equality. Giefer and Julia Kent, both of whom were often on stage and in front of the camera with Brice, also talk about this. Kent was "blown away" by this "tasteful" production. The man from Mittenwald is also enthusiastic about the "great implementation". And about the audience learning more about Brice.
The biggest fit of laughter in Tatyana Pokorny's career
This also happened during the break, which was a little
longer after a spectator's fainting spell. Pokorny spoke about the technical
challenges that the ensemble faced until the very end. She spoke of her
engagement in Bad Segeberg, joint tours with her "five-star husband"
Brice and the biggest fit of laughter of her career when one of her curls got
tangled in Brice's vest button on stage and they couldn't get away from each
other at first. He was the person of her heart, just like Hella Brice. And she
is happy to fulfill her dream.
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