Saturday, December 17, 2011

The Hands of Orlac (1924)


An Austrian silent film (Orlacs Hände) of 1924. This late expressionist work is directed by Robert Wiene.
A concert pianist, Paul Orlac (Conrad Veidt), loses his hands in a railway accident. Replacement hands are transplanted onto him in an experimental procedure, but the hands are those of a recently-executed murderer. From that point forward, the pianist is tortured by panic attacks and irrational fears.

Director:
Robert Wiene
Writers:
Louis Nerz, Maurice Renard (novel)
Stars:
Conrad Veidt, Alexandra Sorina and Fritz Kortner

The Phantom Carriage (1921)


The Phantom Carriage (Swedish: Körkarlen) aka The Phantom Chariot, Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness! and The Stroke of Midnight is a 1921 Swedish romantic horror film, generally considered to be one of the central works in the history of Swedish cinema. Released on New Year's Day, it was directed by and starred Victor Sjöström, alongside Hilda Borgström, Tore Svennberg and Astrid Holm. It is based on the novel Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness! (Körkarlen; 1912), by Nobel-prize winning Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf.
The film is notable for its special effects, its advanced (for the time) narrative structure with flashbacks within flashbacks, and for having been a major influence on Ingmar Bergman.

It's New Year's Eve. Three drunkards evoke a legend. The legend tells that the last person to die in a year, if he is a great sinner, will have to drive during the whole year the Phantom Chariot, the one that picks up the souls of the dead.

Director:
Victor Sjöström
Writers:
Selma Lagerlöf (novel), Victor Sjöström
Stars:
Victor Sjöström, Hilda Borgström and Tore Svennberg