| Whom the Gods Love | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Karl Hartl |
| Written by | Richard Billinger (novel) E. Strzygowski (novel) Eduard von Borsody |
| Produced by | Karl Hartl |
| Starring | Hans Holt Irene von Meyendorff Winnie Markus Paul Hörbiger |
| Cinematography | Günther Anders |
| Edited by | Henny Brünsch Karl Hartl |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | UFA |
Release date | 5 December 1942 |
Running time | 111 minutes |
| Country | Austria (Part of Greater Germany) |
| Language | German |
Whom the Gods Love (German: Wen die Götter lieben) is a 1942 Austrian historical musical film directed by Karl Hartl and starring Hans Holt, Irene von Meyendorff, and Winnie Markus. The film is a biopic of the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.[1] It was made as a co-production between the giant German studio UFA and Wien-Film which had been set up following the German annexation of Austria. The film was part of a wider attempt by the Nazis to portray Mozart as an authentic German hero. Like many German biopics of the war years, it portrays the composer as a pioneering visionary.
The title refers to Mozart's middle name Amadeus (Latin for "love God") and to the aphorism "he whom the gods love, dies young" (Latin: "quem di diligunt, adolescens moritur") from Plautus' Bacchides, lines 816–17, and earlier Greek sources, including Homer's mention of Trophonius; Mozart died at the age of 35.
A British film of the same title had been released in 1936.
