1926 ‘Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed’ Directed by Lotte Reiniger
Based on stories from "The Arabian Nights". A wicked sorcerer tricks Prince Achmed into riding a magical flying horse. The heroic prince is able to subdue the magical horse, which he uses to fly off to many adventures. While travelling, he falls in love with the beautiful Princess Peri Banu, and must defeat an army of demons to win her heart. The film is animated using the silhouette technique.
As Aventuras do Príncipe Achmed, Wak-Wak, ein Märchenzauber, Achmed, il principe fantastico, De Avonturen van Prins Achmed
***One of the best 150 films I have ever seen.***
Blasphemously forgotten and ignored, Reiniger's visual delight of mythical creatures, magic, romance, exotic lands and wonderful tales remains as a longstanding legend in international celluloid. This is my second personal favorite animated film of all times, of any era, of any kind.
The mere thought of the fact that this movie was in danger of extinction gives terror to my soul. May God bless the hearts and souls of those who emptied their time and effort to restore this craved gem.
100/100
Fantastical in every sense of the word, this movie weaponizes silhouettes and it’s breathtakingly beautiful.
This totally mesmerized me and I loved it.
entertained in an era of cgi creations as grand and mechanical as the statue of liberty holding up captain america’s shield (lol watched the new spider-man last night), the adventures of prince achmed’s handmade creatures offer an awestruck enchantment into the magic of the oldest, surviving animated feature. conjuring an artistry unlike any of her peers—gravitating towards the wonders of ancient folklore, lotte reiniger set her cinematic storybook in the literary realm of one thousand and one nights.
reiniger’s majestic dose of surrealism captures intimately tinted and fluid backgrounds, drawing out the meticulous beauty of its saga’s cut out silhouettes while restored visuals and orchestral tunes guide us through mesmerizing silence—solidifying the illusion of texture and human expressionism. the perfect introduction to the underrated marvel of silent films.
… yeah you did read that right, a woman crafted the first feature-length animated film 😎
"Prince Achmed was young and brave and not afraid of any adventure."
Though clarity and pace occasionally waver, even for the admittedly brief runtime, Lotte Reiniger's skill does not. The Adventures of Prince Achmed is pure cinematic magic, a journey where one feels the careful attention and absolute delight of every painstaking second birthed from the filmmaker's inventive artistic style. Dubbed "silhouette animation" for the technique's use of numerous cutouts, as well as other tricks of the trade involved in the three-year production beginning in 1923, Reiniger's remarkable work manages to effortlessly impress nearly a century later. The compositions are sublime, the ingenuity and splendor of each unquestionable. One struggles to even fathom the patience and vision required from one…
I was frustrated about rating this film. Here are all the things I loved about it:
*1st feature length animated film (that still exists)
*Stunningly animated in a shadow puppet style created by the writer/director--who was a woman!
*The "savior" of the film is a witch!
Why I don't want to rate it too highly:
*It suffers from racist and gender issues predominant throughout the era and in faerie tales in general. Made worse here by the stereotypical profiles created in silhouette.
So, it's fantastic except that it isn't because I wouldn't feel comfortable showing it to a child without discussions about race/gender.
The colors. The compositions. The action!!! This is a remarkable feat of animation and one of the most visually interesting animated films of all time. The story is not it’s best component, even though the film has the power to easily hook the viewer in to what is going on through visuals, title cards, and action. This is the first silent animated film I’ve ever seen and I can honestly say that being silent was this films biggest success because it allowed the visuals to flourish the story. You know Disney’s Aladdin? This is a lot like that with more avante garde animation and silent film aspects that make the film pop with both color and excitement. It’s a Salvador Dali painting as an animated film. Between Fantastic Planet and this, I’ve been watching some really awesome animated films recently!
Gorgeously animated silhouette retelling of several of the arabian nights. The various monsters in particular are gorgeously done, managing to occupy that level of detail that hovers between showing you what they look like and letting your imagination fill in the rest.
The grace of the movement and the sheer scale of the storytelling combine beautifully and the story moves rapidly through it's various individual adventures. The musical accompaniment on the version I saw added a great deal to the whole thing to create a wonderful fairy tale experience.
"-----------------" - Silent film,
Woh.
This is pretty and fun... good job people from 100 years ago!
Recommended.
This animated fairytale written and directed by German filmmaker Lotte Reiniger has the prestigious distinction of being the oldest animated feature film. However, it's amply more than just a crucial component of film history, as the feature, which may on initial look seem rather rudimentary, is absorbingly stunning and formulates an exceptionally high level of admiration.
It promotes a technique of silhouette animation which recalls the ancient storytelling technique of shadow puppetry and captions an imaginative usage of shapes and settings, and it's extraordinary how much expression Reiniger achieves with virtually nothing other than exact hand movements from the silhouettes. A great deal of thought has occurred in the editing, and the results are nothing beneath creative and inventive; tinting…
The oldest surviving animated movie ever is also one of the most gorgeous pieces of animation of all time. I mean, we're talking about the oldest full-lenght animated feature you can watch rigth now, and it looks a million times better than some animated movies realeased today. This is a visual masterpiece and everyone must see it.
This film is really beautiful. You can really see the craft and care that was put into making this film. It's such a shame that the story is so boring... My rating is almost entirely being held up by how unique this film was.
Next month, the criterion channel is adding a bunch of arthouse animation and I am so excited for it. I'm really just watching this in preparation, as next month will consist of lots of interesting animated films.
