Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person

Paul Rudolf Parsifal "Percy" Adlon ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}; 1 June 1935 – 10 March 2024) was a German director, screenwriter, and producer. He is associated with the New German Cinema movement (ca. 1965–1985), and is known for his strong female characters and positive portrayals of lesbian relationships.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> He is best known for his 1987 film Bagdad Cafe, starring Marianne Sägebrecht, CCH Pounder and Jack Palance and subsequent films such as Rosalie Goes Shopping (1989), Salmonberries (1991) and Younger and Younger (1993). Adlon's films were shown in competition regularly at international film festivals, such as the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, and others.

Early lifeEdit

Adlon was born on June 1, 1935 in Munich, Germany.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He grew up in Ammerland, Starnberger See. He studied art, theater history, and German literature at Munich's Ludwig-Maximilian University; took acting and singing classes; and was a member of a student theater group.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

CareerEdit

Adlon started his professional career as an actor, became interested in radio work, was a narrator and editor of literature series and a presenter and voice-over actor in television for 10 years. In 1970, Adlon made his first short film for Bavarian television, followed by more than 150 documentary films about art and the human condition.<ref name="BR obit"/> His first was a one-hour portrait of French artist and writer Tomi Ungerer, entitled Tomi Ungerer's Landleben. Adlon became fascinated by Ungerer after meeting at an exhibition in Munich and spending time at his home in Nova Scotia, so decided to make him the subject of his first film.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Adlon's first feature film Céleste (1980) was about the relationship between the French writer Marcel Proust and his cook Céleste Albaret during the last years of Proust's life.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1987 he directed Bagdad Cafe, starring Marianne Sägebrecht as a German tourist, CCH Pounder as a motel and truck stop cafe owner in the Mojave Desert, and Jack Palance. Critically acclaimed,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref> Roger Ebert awarded the film 3½ out of 4 stars in his review, stating that "[Percy Adlon] is saying something in this movie about Europe and America, about the old and the new, about the edge of the desert as the edge of the American Dream" and that the charm of Bagdad Cafe is that "every character and every moment is unanticipated, obscurely motivated, of uncertain meaning and vibrating with life".<ref name=":1" /> The Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa cited Bagdad Cafe as one of his 100 favorite films.<ref name="farout">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1989, Adlon directed Rosalie Goes Shopping, starring Sägebrecht, Brad Davis, and Judge Reinhold, which was screened at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.<ref>Cannes Film Festival, All the films - Festival 1989. Retrieved 2007-05-26.</ref> The film met mixed critical reviews, with Deseret News describing it as "dark satire masquerading as bright comedy" and a comment on American consumerism,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while Rita Kempley of The Washington Post considered it to be "deficit of dramatic tension" and thought that Adlon's message was "scatterbrained".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1991, Adlon directed Salmonberries, a picture starring k.d. lang as Kotzebue, an orphaned Eskimo and young woman of androgynous appearance who has a lesbian relationship with an East German widowed librarian. The film was generally well-received,<ref name="RT-salmonberries">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with Kevin Thomas of the L.A. Times describing it as "endearing, remarkably assured and stunning-looking" and noted that Adlon with sensitivity "raises crucial questions of cultural and sexual identity",<ref name="Thomas">Template:Cite news</ref> though Janet Maslin of The New York Times called it a "halting, awkward effort" with "stilted direction" and "sharp camera angles, arty editing".<ref name="Maslin">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1993, Adlon directed the film Younger and Younger, starring Donald Sutherland, Brendan Fraser and Lolita Davidovich. The film won Adlon the Silver Raven Award at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival.<ref name="encyclopedia">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Leonard Klady of Variety considered it to be an "unusual human comedy", a family yarn which "spins out from its simple premise into fantasy, music, black comedy and innumerable offbeat digressions." Klady further noted that the film illustrated "Adlon's unique method of tackling everyday life", which has "ironically been the greatest strength and most problematic aspect to his commercial appeal".<ref name="Variety-Y&Y">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1997, Adlon co-produced Eat Your Heart Out, a romantic comedy film filmed in Venice Beach, California, which was directed by his son, Template:Ill.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Adlon co-directed his final picture, Mahler on the Couch (2010) with his son Felix, a period film about an affair between Alma Mahler and Walter Gropius, and the subsequent psychoanalysis of Mahler's husband Gustav Mahler by Sigmund Freud. In a review for The Hollywood Reporter, Kirk Honeycutt wrote that the film "manages to pose a serious, intimate study in obsessive jealousy while, like a gaga celebrity hunter, bumping into just about everybody who's anybody in Viennese society circa 1910... The film's great gift, though, is Romaner... She fully inhabits the role of this complex personality whose passion for love and art collides with her role of wife and mother."<ref name="hollywood">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal lifeEdit

Percy Adlon was the great-grandson of Lorenz Adlon, the founder of the Hotel Adlon. He was the grandson of Louis Adlon Sr.,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and the son of opera tenor Template:Ill.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His son, Felix, also a film director, is the former husband of American actress Pamela Adlon and the father of her three daughters, including actresses Odessa A'zion and Gideon Adlon.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Percy and Eleonore Adlon lived in Pacific Palisades, California.<ref name="official" /> Percy Adlon died there on 10 March 2024, at the age of 88.<ref name="BR obit">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="BL">Template:Cite news</ref>

Template:Ill is a half-brother of Percy, 15 years younger and son of Emil Meyerhöfer.<ref name="BR">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

AwardsEdit

Award Year Recipient(s) Category Result Template:Abbr
Adolf Grimme Awards, Germany 1979 The Guardian and His Poet (1978) Award in Gold Fiction/Entertainment Template:Won citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Amanda Award, Norway 1989 Bagdad Cafe (1987) Best Foreign Feature Film (Årets utenlandske spillefilm) Template:Won citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Bavarian Film Awards 1988 Bagdad Cafe (1987) Best Screenplay (Drehbuchpreis) Template:Won <ref name="MPNews" />
Fünf letzte Tage (1982) Best Direction Template:Won <ref name="encyclopedia" />
Bavarian TV Awards 1997 The Glamorous World of the Adlon Hotel (1996) Directing Template:Won <ref name="BR Themen">Template:Cite news</ref>
Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film (BIFFF) 1994 Younger and Younger (1993) Silver Raven Template:Won <ref name="encyclopedia" />
Cannes Film Festival 1989 Rosalie Goes Shopping (1989) Palme d'Or Template:Nom citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Chicago International Film Festival 1984 The Swing (1983) Gold Hugo Best Feature Template:Nom <ref>THE SWING: DIE SCHAUKEL</ref>
Fünf letzte Tage (1982) Gold Hugo Best Feature Template:Nom
Céleste (1980) Gold Hugo Best Feature Template:Nom <ref name="CÉLESTE">CÉLESTE</ref>
César Awards 1989 Bagdad Cafe (1987) Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger) Template:Won <ref name="MPNews" />
Bagdad Cafe (1987) Best Film of the European Community (Meilleur film de l'Europe communautaire) Template:Won <ref name="FA">Template:Cite news</ref>
Ernst Lubitsch Award 1988 Bagdad Cafe (1987) Ernst Lubitsch Award Template:Won <ref name="MPNews" />
Film Independent Spirit Awards 1989 Bagdad Cafe (1987) Best Foreign Film Template:Nom <ref name="A&F: BC">AWARDS & FESTIVALS: BAGDAD CAFÉ</ref>
French Syndicate of Cinema Critics Award 1989 Bagdad Cafe (1987) Best Foreign Film Template:Won,
tied with The Dead
Guild of German Art House Cinemas 1989 Bagdad Cafe (1987) Gold German Film (Deutscher Film) Template:Won
Céleste (1980) Silver German Film (Deutscher Film) Template:Nom
Manhattan Film Festival 2012 Céleste (1980) Buzz Award Template:Won
Medias Central European Film Festival 7+1 2011 Mahler on the Couch (2010) Audience Award Best Picture Template:Won, shared with Template:Ill
Montreal World Film Festival 1991 Salmonberries (1991) Grand Prix des Amériques Template:Won
Robert Festival 1989 Bagdad Cafe (1987) Best Foreign Film (Årets udenlandske spillefilm) Template:Won
Tokyo International Film Festival 1993 Younger and Younger (1993) Tokyo Grand Prix Template:Nom
Valladolid International Film Festival 1985 Sugarbaby (1985) Silver Spike Template:Won <ref>SUGARBABY: ZUCKERBABY</ref>
Venice Film Festival 1982 Fünf letzte Tage (1982) OCIC Award Template:Won <ref name="flt">Fünf letzte Tage: 1982</ref>
Fünf letzte Tage (1982) Golden Lion Template:Won

FilmographyEdit

  • Template:Ill (The Aura in the Distance) (1974, documentary) director, writer
  • Der Vormund und sein Dichter (The Guardian and the Poet) (1978, TV film) director,<ref name="encyclopedia" /> writer, producer (Adolf Grimme Award in Gold)<ref name="DAV" />
  • Herr Kischott (1980, TV film) director<ref name="encyclopedia" />
  • Céleste (1980) director, writer<ref name="encyclopedia" /> (Special Jury Award IFF Chicago)<ref name="CÉLESTE" />
  • Fünf letzte Tage (Five Last Days) (1982) director<ref name="encyclopedia" /> (German Federal Film Award,<ref name="flt" /> Bavarian Film Award,<ref name="encyclopedia" /> OCIC-Prize, IFF Venice, 1982<ref name="flt" />)
  • The Swing (1983) director, writer<ref name="encyclopedia" />
  • Sugarbaby a.k.a. Zuckerbaby (1985) director, writer<ref name="encyclopedia" /> (Ernst-Lubitsch-Award for Marianne Sägebrecht)
  • Herschel und die Musik der Sterne (1986, TV film) director, writer<ref name="encyclopedia" />
  • Out of Rosenheim a.k.a. Bagdad Cafe (US) (1987) director, writer, producer<ref name="encyclopedia" /> (Grand Prix IFF Rio de Janeiro, César, Best Foreign Film (French Film Award),<ref name="MPNews" /> Ernst Lubitsch Award (director),<ref name="MPNews" /> Swedish<ref name="23rdGuldbagge">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Danish Film Academies, Bavarian Film Award (original screenplay),<ref name="MPNews" /> Prix Humanum, Belgium.)

  • Babycakes (1989, TV film), American remake of Zuckerbaby aka Sugarbaby, co-writer
  • Rosalie Goes Shopping (1989) director, writer, producer<ref name="encyclopedia" /> (official German Entry, 1989 Cannes Film Festival. Best Film - Section "Cinema & Denaro", IFF EuropaCinema & TV, Viareggio.)
  • Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter (1990, TV film) director
  • Salmonberries (1991) director, writer<ref name="RT-salmonberries"/> a.k.a. Percy Adlon's Salmonberries (Germany: poster title)<ref name="BR Themen" /> (Grand Prix des Ameriques, Montreal. Bavarian Film Awards for director P.A. and for Rosel Zech, Best Actress.)
  • Younger and Younger (1993) director, writer, producer<ref name="Variety-Y&Y" /><ref name="BR Themen" /> (Silver Raven, Brussels.<ref name="encyclopedia" /> Best Actress IFF Tokyo Lolita Davidovich)
  • In der glanzvollen Welt des Hotel Adlon (1996, TV film) director, a.k.a. The Glamorous World of the Adlon Hotel (Bavarian Television Award)<ref name="BR Themen" />
  • Eat Your Heart Out (1997) producer<ref name="encyclopedia" />
  • Die Straußkiste (1999) director, writer, cinematographer,<ref name="BR Themen" /> a.k.a. Forever Flirt<ref name="encyclopedia" /> (International: English title)
  • Hawaiian Gardens (2001) director, writer<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Koenig's Sphere: The German Sculptor Fritz Koenig at Ground Zero (2001) director,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> a.k.a. Koenigs Kugel (German title)

  • Bagdad Cafe - The Musical (2003–2006) director
  • Orbela's People (2007)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Other workEdit

Further readingEdit

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

External linksEdit

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