Six seconds of naked skin were enough in 1951 to conjure up a nationwide scandal. The breasts of Hildegard Knef were seen in “The Sinner” for six seconds, plus from a distance in a total. But in the Federal Republic just founded, “Die Knef” was a scandalous city discussion. Hildegard Knef was 25 years old at the time and had already had ups and downs that would be enough for the whole career in others.
Almost a quarter of a century after the death of one of the central faces of the German post -war cinema, Luzia Schmid tries in her documentary “I want everything. Hildegard Knef “ Well, looking behind the facade of the public person. This does not quite succeed, at the end of a stylistically and narrative conventional, but still remarkable portrait film, the secret “The Knef” remains. But the desire to see her films again – or for the first time – was definitely awakened.
Hildegard Knef made a scandal that you no longer understand where the problem is, made even more famous than before.
At the end of the Second World War, she grew up, 19 years old was Hildegard Knef in May 1945. In the following years she played in two of the great classics of German post -war cinema: “Under the bridges” and “The murderers are among us” made Hildegard Knef to the canvas star and last but not least to the fixed part of the public. Since then, “Die Knef” has appeared with a regularity in the media, which made it possible Luzia Schmid to form her film to a large extent from archive material. Hildegard Knef seems to have given countless interviews in the course of her life, in which she also reports in a surprisingly open manner for today's standards.
These recordings are one of the pillars of “I want everything. Hildegard Knef ”, and there are long passages from Knef's autobiographical books, especially the“ Gaul given ”, which was published in 1970, which was number 1 for half a year. The Spiegel bestseller list and was also successfully laid abroad. The quotes are spoken by actress Nina Kunzendorf, who does not even try to imitate Knef's unmistakable, deeply shrinked voice. This is rounded off with two interviews with two people who were particularly close to Knef, her daughter from a second marriage, Christina Antonia, and her third and last husband, from an Austrian-Hungarian noble family, Paul Rudolf Freiherr from Schell zu Bauschlott.
Like a flirt with the audience
The interlocutors draw a loving picture of a mother or wife, only subliminally you may perceive slight criticism, especially when it comes to Hildegard Knef's relationship with the public. Since she was a teenager, she has been permanently in the spotlight, every step of her professional career, but also of her private life, has been spread in magazines. In some cases, this was undoubtedly against her will, but on the other hand probably also in your interest and with your support. Because, like so many stars before and after her, Hildegard Knef also seems to have had an ambivalent relationship to fame, on the one hand asked for admiration, after the cheering of the audience, which, on the other hand, also attracted attention.
This becomes particularly clear when it comes to Knef's stage appearances if they sings one of their most famous songs with “For me, it should rain red roses” and seems to flirt with the audience. At the same time, to hope that the audience respects privacy, leaving them alone in phases of serious health problems: hardly conceivable, not in the 1960s.
Luzia Schmid had access to the Hildegard Knef private archive – a rich treasure trove!
But Hildegard Knef was not a blinded actress, on the contrary: In the numerous excerpts from television interviews, she proves to be self -critical and analytical enough to precisely sum up her nature. With remarkable openness, Knef in the interviews shown faces the questions of her interlocutors, formulates pressure -ready sentences in which she critically reflects her ambivalent relationship to fame.
The image of a strong woman, a confident actress who wanted everything and got a lot of it. Which victims sometimes had to raise the people who were particularly close to her, is subliminally evident in the reports of her daughter and her last husband, especially for her medication abuse. As a tragic figure, you shouldn't understand Hildegard Knef, her life and career were far too spectacular for that.
Conclusion: In her more conventional documentary “I want everything. Hildegard Knef ”the filmmaker Luzia Schmid approaches one of the great personalities of Federal Republic history almost exclusively through archive recordings that create the image of a complicated, self -reflective person who absolutely needed the public's attention, but at the same time also suffered insanely from it.
We have “I want everything. Hildegard Knef ”seen as part of the Berlinale 2025, where he was shown in the Panorama section.