Der Flug um den Erdball, Teil 2: Indien – Europa

Ellen Richter became a star in melodramas, thrillers and period dramas, but she achieved her greatest success in a series of action-packed travel and adventure films. For location shooting, Richter travelled across Europe to Africa, Asia and America, giving the hitherto male-dominated genre her own unique stamp in the process. Her role is that of a fearless woman who is inventive, adept with modern technology, and less a sultry erotic fantasy than a dependable buddy to the men around her. In DER FLUG UM DEN ERDBALL (The Flight Around the World), Richter plays Ellinor Rix, a pilot who steps in for her injured brother to prove that she can fly around the world in 13 days in a newly developed airplane. Her main rival (Reinhold Schünzel) tries to sabotage her endeavour and craftily lures Ellinor time and again into life-threatening situations, as she races at breakneck speed from Paris to Genova and further to Cairo and Colombo.

In part two, Ellinor and her companions have to survive further adventures in India and China. As was already criticized by those affected at the time of the film’s release, the film clearly takes a Western view of Indians and Chinese, laden with Oriental stereotypes. Ellinor goes on to fly to San Francisco and New York. Yet among the magnificent landscapes and city sights, dark and intrigue lurk at every turn. (Philipp Stiasny/Oliver Hanley)

Live music:
What would a flight around the world be if the music remained on the ground? How lucky we are, therefore, to have David Schwarz (Gladbeck) on board as our musical tour guide. He studied film composition at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF but above all he is a shrewd and always open-minded jazz musician and multi-instrumentalist. His quartet including singer and cellist Maren Kessler (Gladbeck), saxophonist and clarinetist Thomas Prestin (Berlin) and bassist Stefan Berger (Cologne) provides a novel score as adventurous as the film itself, with music that swings and flies and unleashes a wide range of different sounds.