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PRODUCTION Germany

The fifth life of Effi Briest

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German director Hermine Huntgeburth will follow up her adaptation of the Corinne Hofmann autobiography, The White Masai (Die weisse Massai), with another book adaptation, though a work of fiction this time around: Effi Briest, from the master of German realism Theodor Fontane. The 19th century novel has proved popular with filmmakers, having been adapted four times already: the first time in the black and white 1939 version titled The False Step (Der Schritt vom Wege), again in 1955 and 1970 (the latter for television), and the last time in its most famous incarnation, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder in 1974.

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Fresh off her success that was Die weisse Massai (Germany’s most seen domestic film last year with over 2.2m admissions), Huntgeburth will again look at the struggles of a woman in a foreign environment in Effi Briest. The Fontane novel - his most celebrated work - tells of the titular heroine, a simple girl who, upon marrying an aging baron, finds herself almost strangled by the social conventions of upper-class, late 19th century Prussia. When a years-old letter from one of her admirers surfaces, her husband feels it is necessary to fight the man in a duel, with tragic consequences.

The film will be shot towards the end of this year for a 2008 release date and will be made by the same production entity that was responsible for Die weisse Massai. The adaptation will be written by frequent Huntgeburth-scribe Volker Einrauch. The film will feature "a top-notch German cast", though no names have as yet been announced. Günter Rohrbach, already the producer on The White Masai, is again producing for the Munich-based Constantin Film Produktion.

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