Erotikon (1929) review
Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2017 9:19 pm
More than once, I've heard in silent film circles: "If only the practical problems of talking pictures had been solved in 1930 instead of 1927. Because the art of silent film had really just been figured out by the late 20s, we'd have three more years of great silent films to enjoy."
Silent film really had reached some kind of zenith in the late 20s, and a film that illustrates this point is the Czech melodrama, Erotikon, directed by Gustav Machatý, and screened this week at MoMA. Machatý is perhaps better known for his 1933 film Ecstasy, (which includes nude scenes of a young Hedy Lamarr), but his earlier, Erotikon is a much better film, and is a great example of how perfect the art of silent film had become just before the dawn of sound.
Watching the opening shots of Erotikon is like watching a master class of all the techniques available to tell a story in a silent film medium - a stormy night, a wet young man who has missed the last train, a railway gatekeeper who takes gifts from the young man to the point he becomes incautious that his beautiful young daughter Andrea (played by a luminous Ita Rina), will be alone in the house - all these plot points are told with clarity, yet also with great lyricism.
But those expecting a movie full of titillating shots will be soon disappointed, since this film is mostly about irony. Erotikon, for example is the name of a cologne owned by the young man. The storm rages on, the callow youth seduces the daughter, and leaves without a second thought on the next morning train.
The daughter finds herself pregnant and leaves home, while the young man embarks on his life of affairs in the big city. The child is stillborn, and Andrea finds herself on the streets, and is soon attacked by driver of a wagon who has offered her a ride. Into this desperate scene comes Jean (Luigi Serventi) driving a car - seeing the commotion, he stops, and comes to her aid. The two men fight, and the wagon driver is knocked unconscious but not before stabbing Jean in the chest. Getting Andrea in his car, she tells him to drive away, and then Jean proves his mettle by asking which way to go, explaining: "Weren't you heading the opposite direction?"
That response, my friends, shows someone who is a truly marriageable material - a man who helps a complete stranger, (basically saving her life), receives an injury, and yet has enough gentleman left in him to take her where she needs to go. But then he puts his hand on his chest and sees blood oozing out of his wound...
Minutes later, they are in the hospital and it is time for Andrea to repay the favor - Jean needs an operation, and needs a transfusion to live - she offers her blood if the right type, and minutes later she is next to him it is flowing from her veins to his. Yes, a blood transfusion in the operating room, is the hugely romantic moment in this film, a film named after a rich man's cologne.
Andrea saves his life after Jean has saved hers, but this event is only a prelude to further romantic complications, (true to this film's Slavic roots), that make us feel like we have plunged into a Russian novel - by Tolstoy perhaps. Topping off this wonderful film is a ending that ties off all the loose ends, and we have a movie that has plot + beautiful imagery + great acting. What more could you want from a silent film?
Silent film really had reached some kind of zenith in the late 20s, and a film that illustrates this point is the Czech melodrama, Erotikon, directed by Gustav Machatý, and screened this week at MoMA. Machatý is perhaps better known for his 1933 film Ecstasy, (which includes nude scenes of a young Hedy Lamarr), but his earlier, Erotikon is a much better film, and is a great example of how perfect the art of silent film had become just before the dawn of sound.
Watching the opening shots of Erotikon is like watching a master class of all the techniques available to tell a story in a silent film medium - a stormy night, a wet young man who has missed the last train, a railway gatekeeper who takes gifts from the young man to the point he becomes incautious that his beautiful young daughter Andrea (played by a luminous Ita Rina), will be alone in the house - all these plot points are told with clarity, yet also with great lyricism.
But those expecting a movie full of titillating shots will be soon disappointed, since this film is mostly about irony. Erotikon, for example is the name of a cologne owned by the young man. The storm rages on, the callow youth seduces the daughter, and leaves without a second thought on the next morning train.
The daughter finds herself pregnant and leaves home, while the young man embarks on his life of affairs in the big city. The child is stillborn, and Andrea finds herself on the streets, and is soon attacked by driver of a wagon who has offered her a ride. Into this desperate scene comes Jean (Luigi Serventi) driving a car - seeing the commotion, he stops, and comes to her aid. The two men fight, and the wagon driver is knocked unconscious but not before stabbing Jean in the chest. Getting Andrea in his car, she tells him to drive away, and then Jean proves his mettle by asking which way to go, explaining: "Weren't you heading the opposite direction?"
That response, my friends, shows someone who is a truly marriageable material - a man who helps a complete stranger, (basically saving her life), receives an injury, and yet has enough gentleman left in him to take her where she needs to go. But then he puts his hand on his chest and sees blood oozing out of his wound...
Minutes later, they are in the hospital and it is time for Andrea to repay the favor - Jean needs an operation, and needs a transfusion to live - she offers her blood if the right type, and minutes later she is next to him it is flowing from her veins to his. Yes, a blood transfusion in the operating room, is the hugely romantic moment in this film, a film named after a rich man's cologne.
Andrea saves his life after Jean has saved hers, but this event is only a prelude to further romantic complications, (true to this film's Slavic roots), that make us feel like we have plunged into a Russian novel - by Tolstoy perhaps. Topping off this wonderful film is a ending that ties off all the loose ends, and we have a movie that has plot + beautiful imagery + great acting. What more could you want from a silent film?