A real hidden gem of the silent German Expressionist era, a Faustian fairy tale from the writer of Nosferatu and The Golem, Henrik Galeen. It's fascinating to see Galeen as a filmmaker, his use of montage editing and handheld camera specifically really recall his peers such as Murnau (who coincidentally also released his Faustian masterpiece the same year), and stylistically this film feels connected to Nosferatu with the mixture of idyllic nature with demonic shadowy nightmares. My main complaint is that it does feel a bit too long, but when a movie has one of Conrad Veidt's best performances, you just have to suck it up sometimes.
A real hidden gem of the silent German Expressionist era, a Faustian fairy tale from the writer of Nosferatu and The Golem, Henrik Galeen. It's fascinating to see Galeen as a filmmaker, his use of montage editing and handheld camera specifically really recall his peers such as Murnau (who coincidentally also released his Faustian masterpiece the same year), and stylistically this film feels connected to Nosferatu with the mixture of idyllic nature with demonic shadowy nightmares. My main complaint is that it does feel a bit too long, but when a movie has one of Conrad Veidt's best performances, you just have to suck it up sometimes.
