A musical film comedy based on Johann Sebastian Bach – and from Westphalia to boot … – does it go together? Yes, it does! Julian Isfort’s film “The Coffee Cantata” shows this in a wonderful way. The young filmmaker and musician had the idea of bringing Bach’s music into a form that would do justice to the medium of film. A thoroughly challenging endeavour.
Musical film comedy
A production of the Filmwerkstatt Münster
Isfort was not only concerned with bringing the musical material into a new and modern-looking version, but also with integrating the classical elements of the music into the film. The music had to be transformed, rewritten in the language of the film. At the same time, the film was also intended to entertain its audience – hence the genre of a comedy that does not abandon its cinematic aspirations.
At the heart of the story is young Baroness Lieschen’s unbridled addiction to coffee, which drives her father Baron Schlendrian further and further into ruin. In order to save the house and estate, Lieschen is supposed to marry the baron’s banker. But she is secretly in love with her father’s coffee-making gardener. With the support of her servants, Lieschen finally succeeds in convincing her father to stop drinking coffee. In the end, he gives his blessing for the daughter to marry her great love.
In a mixture of dialogue and song, Julian Isfort tells the uncomplicated story, which was filmed at Haus Rothenberge in Wettringen (Steinfurt district) in the summer of 2012. The manor house, also known as “Villa Jordaan” after its builders, provided the perfect backdrop for this modern version of Bach’s cantata “Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht”. The landscape, furnishings, location – it all suited the plot. What’s more, all the interior and exterior shots could be filmed here.