Der Student von Prag (
The Student of Prague, 1913) by H. H. Ewers (?) and Stellan Rye (?) with Paul Wegener, John Gottowt, Grete Berger and Lyda Salmonova
This new handsome restoration of the 1913 German classic was premiered on Arte TV last Tuesday. There are still some controversy regarding who directed this film: is it the screenwriter Ewers, Stellan Rye and/or Paul Wegener? Anyway, the film boasts a great reputation as being a founding work in the history of cinema. But is it really? In the history of German cinema, it certainly is. But if you compare it with other great films of the same year (incidentally it was 100 years ago), it's not so new in terms of cinematography and storytelling. Evgeny Bauer was making the superb
Twilight of a Woman Soul, Sjöström directed
Ingeborg Holm and Capellani made
Germinal. Each of these is superb achievement showing how quickly film was becoming a new art form equal to painting or literature. So going back to the story of
Der Student von Prag, it's reminiscent of E.T.A. Hoffmann's tales and of Adalbert von Chamisso's
Peter Schlemihl. The screenwriter H. H. Ewers draws from the seminal romantic German literature to create the student Balduin who exchanges his shadow for money. The man who offers him the money looks like a devil envoy ready to grab his soul (i.e. his shadow or reflection in a mirror). Then Balduin is left to fight this evil second self, a
Doppelgänger. Most of the film is shot on locations in Prague and it gives it a great atmosphere. Overall, I was impressed by the image quality and also by the original orchestral score by Josef Weiss. It's a very beautiful restoration that will come out on DVD via German Filmmuseum soon (it's announced on their website).