''The Sudden Wealth of the Poor People of Kombach'' (german: Der plötzliche Reichtum der armen Leute von Kombach) is a

film d'auteur Film d'auteur (also called ''cinéma d'auteur)'' is an expression used to describe the films of a film director or a screenwriter which reflect their artistic personality. This term seeks before all to link the work of a filmmaker to preferred theme ...

from 1971 directed by

Volker Schlöndorff Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939 Friday) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s, ...

. He also co-wrote the script with

Margarethe von Trotta Margarethe von Trotta (; born 21 February 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, and actress. She has been referred to as a "leading force" of the New German Cinema movement.

. The film was based on a true event that occurred in the

Hessian Hinterland The land known as the Hessian Hinterland (german: Hessisches Hinterland) lies within the region of Middle Hesse and is concentrated around the old county of Biedenkopf, that is the western part of the present county of Marburg-Biedenkopf, as well ...

in the 19th century.

Plot

On 19 May 1822, eight poor farmers and day laborers from Kombach in the Hessian Hinterland succeed in robbing a money transport that runs from

Gladenbach Gladenbach [] is a town in Hesse, Germany, in the west of Marburg-Biedenkopf district. Geography Location The town of Gladenbach lies on the eastern edge of the Westerwald in the Hessian Highland (''Bergland''). This part of the Lahn-Dill Highlan ...

Gießen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...

every month. Their good fortune, however, does not last, as their sudden wealth is soon treated with suspicion.

Background

The film is based on the

Mail Robbery of Subach The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

( de). Schlöndorff, who grew up in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

, used many references to his childhood in

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

, including shooting at difference locations in Hesse, using Hessian actors, and referencing Hessian authors.

Awards

1971:

Deutscher Filmpreis The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the German film industry. Besides being the most important ...

- Best Direction 1971:

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in th ...

- OCIC Award

External links

#
Der plötzliche Reichtum der armen Leute von Kombach
', from the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

#
Der plötzliche Reichtum der armen Leute von Kombach
', from

Filmportal.de filmportal.de is an online database of information related to German film. It includes extensive information on films and filmmakers as well as articles on film issues. The website was released on occasion of the 54th Berlin International Film Fe ...

References

# "THE SUDDEN WEALTH OF THE POOR PEOPLE OF KOMBACH (DE 1971) – Sammlung Volker Schlöndorff". Retrieved 2020-05-31. # "Kasseler Grimm-Professur mit Volker Schlöndorff". ''archive.vn''. (in German) 2012-09-07. Retrieved 2020-05-31. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sudden Wealth of the Poor People of Kombach 1971 films 1971 drama films 1970s historical drama films German historical drama films West German films 1970s German-language films Films directed by Volker Schlöndorff German television films Films set in the 1820s 1970s German films Das Erste original programming