Chapeau Claque

Hanno Giessen is 33, the last scion of a hat manufactory in Berlin. After the firm, specialized in top hats, goes bankrupt, he devotes himself to a life of indolence. He engages a camera crew to record for posterity his willfully unproductive days in his Grunewald villa, which is full of various collections and antiques. His established routines in splendid isolation, in which he sees at most delivery people and a few friends, come unstuck when a young woman moves in with him, who nonchalantly and unclothed shatters his complacency… Featuring appearances by Kreuzberg bohemians like Wolfgang Neuss, the film made in Ulrich Schamoni’s genuinely untamed suburban homestead is a jocular home movie. In the developing leisure society of the 1970s, a social dropout postulates an anarchistic “right to idleness”. This cinematic summer fantasy with melancholy overtones and satirical potshots at the contemporary “man of action” euphoria was deemed by the ratings board (FSK) to be a serious “incitement to do nothing”, and prohibited for young audiences in 1974.
by Ulrich Schamoni
with Ulrich Schamoni, Anna Henkel, Karl Dall, Wolfgang Neuss, Rolf Zacher, Ingo Insterburg, Jürgen Barz, Peter Ehlebracht
Federal Republic of Germany 1974 German 91’ Colour DCP: Ziegler Film, Berlin Rating R 12

With

  • Ulrich Schamoni
  • Anna Henkel
  • Karl Dall
  • Wolfgang Neuss
  • Rolf Zacher
  • Ingo Insterburg
  • Jürgen Barz
  • Peter Ehlebracht

Crew

Director Ulrich Schamoni
Screenplay Ulrich Schamoni
Cinematography Igor Luther
Editing Regine Heuser
Sound Rainer Lorenz, Christian Moldt
Production Design György Janoschka
Producers Regina Ziegler, Ulrich Schamoni

Additional information

DCP: Ziegler Film, Berlin