Cert PG
(France & Germany, 1932, 72 mins, Cert PG) is an established classic horror film of early sound cinema. Director Carl Dreyer “creates a film of great beauty. Often the close-ups are particularly haunting, but the main achievement is the correctness of each shot, and their relationship to each other”. (Chris Petit, Time Out)
Programme Notes
Germany 1932 83 minutes Cert PG
Young traveller Allan Grey arrives in a remote castle and starts seeing weird, inexplicable sights (a man whose shadow has a life of its own, a mysterious scythe-bearing figure tolling a bell, a terrifying dream of his own burial). Things come to a head when one of the daughters of the lord of the castle succumbs to anaemia – or is it something more sinister?
Allan Grey – Julian West
The Lord of the Manor – Maurice Schutz
Gisèle – Rena Mandel
Léone – Sybille Schmitz
The village doctor – Jan Hieronimko
Director – Carl Theodor Dreyer
Screenplay – Christen Jul
Cinematography – Rudolph Maté, Louis Née
Original Music – Wolfgang Zeller
Producers – Carl Theodor Dreyer, Julian West
“With the help of Rudolph Maté’s luminous photography, Dreyer creates a film of great beauty. Often the close-ups are particularly haunting, but the main achievement is the correctness of each shot, and their relationship to each other.” Time Out Film Guide
“Dreyer incorporates a number of techniques that effectively establish the film’s setting as one in which anything goes. Clever editing and camera trickery enable the impossible to spring to life, allowing the audience to experience the unease the characters feel in a way nothing short of revolutionary.” A.J. Hakari, Passport Cinema
Comments
“Suitably archaic and amusing”
“A bit hard to take it all in”
“I enjoyed the use of silhouettes and shadows but lost the plot a few times!”
“Some excellent visual and atmospheric scenes but rather disjointed and slow”
“Probably good for its time, however not a film I would have chosen to watch”
“What? Moody images and effects but … what?”
“Not for me!”