Ruby Red () is a 2013 German fantasy film based on the book with the same name by Kerstin Gier and is the first part in the Ruby Red Trilogy. A sequel was produced in 2014 under the title Sapphire Blue (), followed in 2016 by ().
Plot A young couple, Paul and Lucy, are chased by a group of men intent on killing them and taking their chronograph, a time travel machine, which they use to escape.
The day before Gwendolyn "Gwen" Shepherd's sixteenth birthday, she attends the birthday party of her cousin Charlotte, who is a day older than her. Charlotte plays an important role in the Order of Count Saint Germain and her party guests include several members of London's high society. When Charlotte seemingly almost faints she is brought to the Order, accompanied by the young and attractive Gideon de Villiers. As a member of the Order who has inherited the time travel gene, Charlotte is expected to complete the Order's mission.
In the following days, Gwen begins to see ghosts and feel dizzy before making several uncontrolled jumps into the past, and her friend Leslie deduces that she must be carrying the gene instead of Charlotte. Grace, Gwen's mother, brings her to the Order, which is in possession of a chronograph, a time travel machine for controlled jumps that she will do with Gideon de Villiers, a time traveller himself. Gideon is reluctant to work with Gwen due to her not receiving the same preparation for her role as Charlotte.
The Order's chronograph is hidden away due to a different one being stolen by Paul and Lucy with Grace's help. Gwen is eventually inducted as the last of twelve time travellers and learns about the mission: due to the theft of the previous chronograph by Gwen's cousin Lucy, blood samples have to be collected from all twelve time travellers to complete the samples of this chronograph. Gideon has been unable to collect blood from Lady Tilney, Gwen's great-great-grandmother, as she will only cooperate with Gwen. When they visit Lady Tilney in 1912, Lucy and Paul appear, warning Gwendolyn of the dangers of completing the blood samples and of the Count of Saint Germain's plans to sacrifice her life to achieve his goals.
Already sceptical of the Order's secrecy, Gwen sympathises with Lucy and Paul, while Gideon's loyalty to the Order begins to crack after the encounter. Back in the present, Charlotte recruits a teacher, Mr. Whitman, at their school to stop Gwen and her best friend Leslie from finding out more. Gwen and Gideon go to meet with the Count of Saint Germain in 1782, and he uses his magic, mind-reading and telekinesis, to threaten and strangle Gwen, while inquiring about her magic. Gwen and Gideon leave and are attacked before jumping to the present. During the fight, Gwen saves Gideon's life. Gwen wants to escape the Order, but Gideon says they can't because the Order "owns" them. Ultimately he decides to help her search for answers.
At night, they sneak into the Order's archives to find an ancient prophecy about themselves, but the documents are locked away in the present. Using a note from Gwen's grandfather, they convince Mr. George, a member of the Order, to let them find the documents in the past. Travelling to 1942, they find and read an incomplete version of the prophecy about how Gwen's death as the Ruby, bleeding out in the snow, will bring the circle of the twelve to completion. While trying to escape the security guards, Gwen falls from the top of a tower. She wakes up in a pool of her own blood in the snow-covered courtyard and makes it inside the building before fainting. Back in the present, Gwen is found unconscious from hypothermia but otherwise uninjured. Against the will of the Grand Master of the Order, Gideon carries her to the doctor to keep her alive and promises to keep her safe.
After she has recovered, Gwendolyn goes to her school's ball together with Gideon wearing Lucy's dress. She discovers from a family photo that the ghost boy she has been seeing was her grandfather's younger brother, and she concludes that seeing ghosts could be her magic. Still not knowing what will happen once the blood samples are complete, Gideon and Gwen share a kiss at the ball. The film concludes with Paul and Lucy escaping yet again from a group of men who are chasing them.
Production Background
Origin The film's rights were acquired by the production companies "schlicht und ergreifend GmbH" and "mem-Film" (mind's eye media GmbH). Katharina Schöde wrote the script and Felix Fuchssteiner directed. The film was created in collaboration with Concorde Filmverleih GmbH (a film distribution company) and Tele München Fernseh Produktionsgesellschaft (a manufacturing company).
Cast After auditions, the main roles were given to the young actors Maria Ehrich, Jannis Niewöhner, and Laura Berlin. Some other well-known actors like Veronica Ferres, Axel Milberg, Katharina Thalbach, Kostja Ullmann and Josefine Preuß are in the movie too.
Maria Ehrich as Gwendolyn "Gwen" Shepherd Jannis Niewöhner as Gideon de Villiers Laura Berlin as Charlotte Montrose Veronica Ferres as Grace Shepherd Uwe Kockisch as Falk de Villiers Katharina Thalbach as Tante Maddy Gottfried John as Dr. White Josefine Preuß as Lucy Montrose Florian Bartholomäi as Paul de Villiers Johannes Silberschneider as Mr. Bernhard Gerlinde Locker as Lady Arista Axel Milberg as Lucas Montrose Jennifer Lotsi as Leslie Hay Philip Wiegratz as Gordon Gelderman
Filming The movie was filmed over 42 days, from February 21, 2012 to April 26, 2012 in Mulhouse/Thuringia, Eisenach, Weimar, Cologne, Aachen, Juelich, Coburg, Bayreuth, and London. All scenes were filmed at real locations and no backdrop was used. The filming locations must look like London architecture, but also look like their respective time periods.
The headquarters of the guards should resemble a middle age fortress. The filming for the scenes in the "Dragon Hall" is in a ballroom at Wartburg Castle near Eisenach. A few staircases and arcades (usually an arch covered walkways) were used as backdrops, but most scenes in the "underground secret passage of the Order" were filmed in the casemates of the Juelich Citadel. The historic walls of the Mulhouse Town Hall, including the large council hall, the City Council Archives, and the gatehouse were used to make up the Order's property. The filming of "Madame Rossini's Tailor Workshop" was at Callenberg Castle in Coburg, specifically in the castle chapel. The background for the "Observatory of the Secret Order" was at Aachen Observatory, with its historic telescope, and the theft of the Chronograph was filmed at the Paradise Fountain in the square of Aachen Cathedral. The cathedral courtyard was transformed into the "outdoor area of the headquarters" by using different historical streetlamps, cars with British license plates, and antique horse-drawn carriages for the three different time periods.
The film sequence of Christmas 1942, where Gwendolyn and Gideon sneak into the Observatory of the secret Order, was described by producer Felix Fuchssteiner as: "Ultimately Gwen and Gideon climb up the stairs at Wartburg Castle, then are in the Observatory in Aachen, Gwen falls out the Observatory into the courtyard in Coburg and goes through the door and arrives in Juelich."
The Ketschendorf Castle in Corburg, which has a Neo-Gothic style, is the main inspiration for the "Montrose House", Gwendolyn's family home. The now youth hostel was vacant, so the set designers had free rein to decorate the room for the years 1994 and 2010.
Most of the interior shots for the school scenes at "St. Lennox High" are at the Markgräfin-Wilhelmine Gymnasium in Bayreuth during their 2012 spring break. Only the "Cherry Blossom Ball" was filmed in the Marble Hall of the Rosenau Castle in Coburg. For the outside of the college, Ehrenburg Castle was chosen for its Neo-Gothic facade and their spacious castle square became a "school parking lot" by adding British red telephone boxes and mailboxes.
For Gwendolyn's first time jump, Ludwigsstraße in Bayreuth was transformed into Victorian-era London in the middle of April in 2012. To achieve this, traffic signs were removed, additional window bars were put on windows facing the street, historical lanterns and lamps were put up, period accurate English street signs and ads were added, and the street had costumed extras, horse-drawn carriages, and vintage cars.
The setting for the visit to Lady Tilney in 1912 was in a luxurious mansion on Reuterweg in Eisenach. The attack on the carriage in 1787 was filmed at the Decksteiner Wieher (also known as "Hyde Park") in Cologne. Kerstin Gier got a cameo as a bypasser, who is frightened by the time traveler's sudden appearance. In action scenes, Jannis Niewoehner did most of his stunts himself. To prepare, he did intensive fencing and close combat training in Hungary beforehand.
During the four-day shoot near the end of April 2012 in London, only Maria Ehrich, Jannis Niewoehner, and Laura Berlin were there. They shot scenes from the book at the actual locations, for example scenes like Gwendolyn's telephone call on the Millennium Bridge, Gwen walking home from school along Camden High Street, Gwen's night-time bike trip, and the meeting between Gwen and Gideon at the Tower Bridge was filmed without barriers and during normal business hours. The aerial shots were taken on location out of a helicopter.
Music On March 8th, 2013, Sony Classical released the soundtrack for the film. It had the title track Faster by Sofi de la Torre, as well as the songs The Perfect Fall, Recognize Me, and Wings by the same artist.
The classical score was rehearsed at Staatskapelle Weimar, was recorded at Volkshaus Jena, and was created by the film composer Philipp F. Kölmel.
Release The film had its world premiere on March 5th, 2013 in Munich. The regular theater release in Germany was on March 14th, 2013. The DVD and Blu-ray released on September 30th, 2013.
Differences between Book and Movie