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ALRAUNE + THE STUDENT OF PRAGUE: GERMAN SILENT GENRE RARITIES FROM DIRECTOR HENRIK GALEEN (1926-27)
Two ultra-rare German silent horror films from director/writer Henrik Galeen (who wrote Nosferatu), Alraune and The Student of Prague.
ALRAUNE (A WOMAN OF DESTINY), 1927, Filmmuseum München,131 min. Dir. Henrik Galeen. Deranged Weimar Era erotic sci-fi / horror starring Brigitte Helm (Maria / Futura in Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS) as the unholy offspring of a genetics experiment conducted by her scientist "father" Paul Wegener (The Golem in both the 1915 and 1920 versions), who implants the semen of a hanged man in the womb of a prostitute. ("Alraune" literally translates as "Mandrake" - an old legend states that human-like mandrake roots grow under the gallows where the sperm of a hanged man touches mother earth.) As an adult, the lithe, sinuous Helm with her weirdly magnetic gaze and Modigliani-like features drives men to suicide and madness - including her own pseudo-father Wegener who succumbs to incestuous obsession with her. Beautifully shot by cinematographer Franz Planer (who later photographed LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN and CRISS CROSS) with gorgeous restored color tinting, ALRAUNE is a cascade of decadent imagery: hanged bodies in cemeteries, NIGHTMARE ALLEY-like circuses, opulent casinos and more. A remarkable and long-unseen German silent sci-fi / horror gem from Galeen, fueled by stellar performances by Helm and Wegener. Score by Sabrina Zimmermann and Mark Pogolski. DER STUDENT VON PRAG (THE STUDENT OF PRAGUE), 1926, Filmmuseum München, 133 min. Dir. Henrik Galeen. Conrad Veidt (THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, CASABLANCA) stars as a hellraising student who sells his soul to the Devil in the form of a wizened old man named Scapinelli (Werner Krauss). But Veidt hasn't bargained on meeting his own evil doppelgänger who literally steps out of a mirror, Cocteau-like, and starts to take over his life. A remake of the 1913 version starring Paul Wegener (also excellent), Galeen's eerily compelling FAUST-like fantasy / horror is driven by the always-great Veidt's impressive dual performance as the student and his strange, unsettling twin. Score by Stephen Horne.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- An excerpt from AUF GEFÄHRLICHEN SPUREN (DANGEROUS PATHS), 1924, Filmmuseum Düsseldorf, 15 min. This extended clip from the 1924 crime film DANGEROUS PATHS is a rare opportunity to see Galeen’s work as both writer and actor, alongside frequent collaborat
- New video interview with Stefan Drössler of the Filmmuseum München about the preservation of ALRAUNE and THE STUDENT OF PRAGUE, the career of writer / director Henrik Galeen, the Filmmuseum’s collection of rare Orson Welles and 3-D materials and more
- New audio commentaries by film historian Jan-Christopher Horak, former director of the UCLA Film & TV Archive and the Filmmuseum München, and senior curator at the George Eastman Museum.
- Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion.
- New artwork by Beth Morris.
