| Director | Andrew Birkin |
|---|---|
| Producer | Carol Lynn Greene |
| Writer | Andrew Birkin Stefan Zweig |
| Starring | Faye Dunaway Klaus Maria Brandauer Ian Richardson David Eberts |
| Music | Hans Zimmer |
| Cinematography | Ernest Day |
| Editing | Paul Green |
| Distributor | Vestron Pictures |
| Released | 24 October 1988 (Chicago International Film Festival); 22 December 1988 |
| Runtime | 106 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom West Germany |
| Language | English |
| Gross | 172,000 (Germany) £9,542 (UK)[1] |
Burning Secret is a 1988 drama film, based on the 1913 short story Brennendes Geheimnis by Stefan Zweig, about an American diplomat's son who befriends a mysterious baron while staying at an Austrian spa during the 1920s. This symbol-filled story, filmed with sensuous detail and nuance, is set in Austria in the 1920s. While being treated for asthma at a country spa, an American diplomat's lonely 12-year-old son is befriended and infatuated by a suave, mysterious baron. During a story of his war experiences, the baron reveals the scar of a wound from an American soldier and thrusts a pin through it, saying "see—no feeling." Little does the boy realize that it is his turn to be wounded. But soon his adored friend heartlessly brushes him aside and turns his seductive attentions to his mother. The boy's jealousy and feelings of betrayal become uncontrollable.
The film was written and directed by Andrew Birkin, and stars Klaus Maria Brandauer, Faye Dunaway, and David Eberts. The film won the Young Jury Prize at the Brussels Film Festival in 1989, and David Eberts won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival in the same year.
According to Birkin, the making of the movie "was something of a nightmare" with the two lead actors thoroughly disliking one another and other problems while shooting on location in Mariánské Lázně while directing young David Eberts was "a joy".[2]
The film was only composer Hans Zimmer's second feature film scoring.[citation needed]
Release
The film opened the 24th Chicago International Film Festival on October 24, 1988.[3]
Lions Gate Home Entertainment has yet to release the film onto DVD.
See also
- The Burning Secret (1923)
- The Burning Secret (1933)
References
- ^ "Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s – An Information Briefing". British Film Institute. 2005. p. 20. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
- ^ "Video description text on Andrew Birkin's YouTube Channel". 2021. Archived 2021-12-21 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-03-11. – via YouTube.
- ^ "Chicago Chitchat". Variety. November 9, 1988. p. 14.
External links
- Burning Secret at IMDb