Favorite films

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Recent reviews

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  Faust 1926

  ★★★½ Watched by ZubinShy 11 Aug 2022

  One of the rare cases where I've actually read the book a film was based on, because in Germany, every student (at least if one makes it far enough) gets to read Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's "Faust". So, I was especially looking forward to see how the tragedy of Faust would be interpreted from a Weimar/expressionist point-of-view. The film's opening was absolutely bonkers with unbelievable sets and visual effects. A great juxtaposition of the expressionist style with romantic motives with…

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  The Last Laugh 1924

  ★★★★★ Watched by ZubinShy 09 Aug 2022

  My first Murnau, and what can I say? I was thoroughly impressed. F.W. Murnau’s “The Last Laugh”, or it’s more appropriate German title, “Der letzte Mann” (The Last Man), is an incredible piece of a socially conscious drama that swiftly balances between comedy and tragedy. It’s kept deliberately simplistic and abstract, with the characters given no names, and most of the story told through symbols, such as Emil Janning’s doorkeeper uniform, and another important aspect: the lack of intertitles, leading…

Popular reviews

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  Michael 1924

  ★★★½ Watched by ZubinShy 08 Aug 2022

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  Besides its reputation for being one of the earliest films to deal with the subject of homosexuality, Carl Theodor Dreyer's German silent film unfortunately doesn't have little else to offer. It's essentially a chamber play, the other cinematic movement in the silent era next to expressionism. But unlike other chamber plays, "Michael" fails to impress with exquisite composition and blocking, despite the fact that the film's cinematographer is Karl Freund, frequent collaborator with the likes of Fritz Lang, F. W.…

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  Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge 1924

  ★★★★★ Watched by ZubinShy 04 Aug 2022

  „Die Nibelungen – Teil II: Kriemhilds Rache“

  The second part of Fritz Lang’s massive German folktale epic is quite a heavy departure from its predecessor. It contains no giant dragons, invisibility helmets, shapeshifting, dream sequences, etc. All the fantasy and naturalistic mysticism has been strapped away to create a film that substantially counteracts the first part. The very foundation of the second part is Kriemhild’s metamorphosis from chaste, loving and virginal princess into a conspirative queen corrupted by hatred and…