Der Student von Prag
1913 Directed by Stellan Rye, Paul Wegener
Synopsis
A poor student rescues a beautiful countess and soon becomes obsessed with her. A sorcerer makes a deal with the young man to give him fabulous wealth and anything he wants, if he will sign his name to a contract. The student hurriedly signs the contract, but doesn't know what he's in for.
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Would you sell your reflection? What if your reflection could take a form on its own and commit crimes, and everyone thought it was you who did it? An interesting early Edgar Allan Poe adaptation.
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Aus heutiger Sicht reichlich gemächlich erzählter Film, der durch reizvolle Trickaufnahmen und hundertjährigem Altersbonus glänzt und durch saubere Restauration auf Hochglanz gebracht wurde.
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An early prototype to the German expressionism movement, the tale of a devil's bargain is given a theatricality that makes it interesting. Some clever effects for the time help the film's story.
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Fight Club (1913).
Would shift the attention to the Reflection rather than the Countess. -
Considered the first feature-length horror film, Stellan Rye & Paul Wegener's The Student of Prague (sometimes known by its more leadenly-literal name A Bargain with Satan) is a nifty little piece of storytelling that takes its place as the oldest feature length film I've ever seen, regardless of genre.
Loosely based on the Edgar Allan Poe story William Wilson and bookended by a quote from poet Alfred de Musset's The Confession of a Child of the Century, The Student of Prague is Balduin (co-director Paul Wegener), an acclaimed swordsmith but bored student who has fallen on hard financial times until he meets strange old man Scapinelli (John Gottowt), who offers him a devilishly appealing deal: $100,000 for a pick of anything…