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    3. Michael (1924) [Masters of Cinema #3]

    Michael (1924) [Masters of Cinema #3]

    Posted By: Someonelse
    Date: 13 Oct 2012 11:10:00
    Michael (1924) [Masters of Cinema #3]

    Michael (1924) [Masters of Cinema #3]
    A Film by Carl Theodor Dreyer
    2xDVD5 | ISO+MDS | PAL 4:3 | Artwork | 86 and 89 mins | 4,24 Gb + 4,18 Gb
    Score AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps with English or German intertitles and English subs
    Genre: Drama, Romance

    Danish master Carl Th. Dreyer (1889-1968) directed Michael (also known as Mikaël) in 1924 for Decla-Bioscop, the artistic wing of German production powerhouse Ufa. It was Dreyer’s sixth feature in five years and his second in Germany.

    Based on Herman Bang’s 1902 novel of the same name, Dreyer’s film is a fascinating fin-de-siècle study of a “decadent” elderly artist (Benjamin Christensen) driven to despair by his relationship with his young protégé and former model, Michael (Walter Slezak). With suffocatingly sumptuous production design by renowned architect Hugo Häring (his only film work), this Kammerspiel, or “intimate theatre”, foreshadows Dreyer’s magnificent final film Gertrud by precisely forty years.

    Michael was scripted by Dreyer with Fritz Lang’s wife Thea von Harbou (Metropolis, M, etc). It stars the director Benjamin Christensen (Häxan); Walter Slezak (Hitchcock’s Lifeboat); Nora Gregor (Renoir’s The Rules of the Game); Mady Christians (Ophüls’ Letter from an Unknown Woman); and Karl Freund (who shot Metropolis) in his only ever appearance as an actor. Freund lensed part of Michael too, but left to work on Murnau’s The Last Laugh, and Rudolph Maté (The Passion of Joan of Arc) took over.

    Never before released on home video, this 80th anniversary DVD set is a timely opportunity to experience a film that was once described (by Dreyer biographers J. & D. D. Drum) as “having one of the strangest and saddest fates a film ever suffered”.

    IMDB
    Eureka - Masters of Cinema
    DVDbeaver
    Note! First three screenshots made from USA version (Disc 1); next three made from European version (Disc 2).

    You know that DVD releases are reaching critical mass when you get releases of early silent films from Carl Th. Dreyer – films like The Parson’s Widow and Michael, which have not only rarely been seen, but in some cases have never been available in any form for home viewing. Not only however are we privileged enough to get DVD releases of these two rare films, but with The Parson’s Widow we get the chance to see two other rare Dreyer short films (Thorvaldsen and They Caught The Ferry), and with the Eureka/Masters of Cinema release of Michael we get a level of attention to restoration and presentation of the film that is quite unexpected, illuminating not only the early work of one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema, but giving us a wider look at the cinema of the period and the attitudes that formed it.

    Michael (1924) [Masters of Cinema #3]

    Dreyer’s film is a dramatic conflict based around the themes of art and love. An aspiring young artist, Michael sacrifices his ambitions to work as a model and inspiration for the Master, the great artist Claude Zoret. However, the relationship between the Master and the protégé has soured over the years, the Master now only seeing in Michael the inspiration for a painting depicting Brutus’ betrayal of Caesar. Zoret has found a new muse – a Russian Princess, The Countess Zamikow, but his work lacks the spark of artistic genius, preventing his portrait of her from achieving true greatness. His understudy Michael however is more receptive to the feelings the Countess inspires in him, giving him the ability to add the finishing touches to achieve what the Master could not. Michael’s relationship with the Countess becomes a tremendous strain on the Master who sees nothing but ingratitude and betrayal in the actions of his adoptive son.

    Michael (1924) [Masters of Cinema #3]

    Michael is an early examination of a subject that continues to interest writers and filmmakers – the power of art and the fire of inspiration. It’s an inspiration that arises out of the very act of being human and communicating with other people and all the emotions that this gives rise to – love, desire, jealousy, betrayal. All these emotions contribute to the richness of life, its reflection in art and its ultimate culmination in death. The relationship of the artist and their inspiration is a complex one and not an easy one to achieve (Jacques Rivette has tackled it marvellously in La Belle Noiseuse) and it is particularly difficult to convey in a silent film. This is where Dreyer’s artistry comes into play.

    Michael (1924) [Masters of Cinema #3]

    In a parallel subplot, the Duke of Monthieu embarks upon a doomed love affair with a married woman, Alice Adelsskjold. The subplot mirrors the main story in a more conventional playing out of events that culminate in the traditional duel, but it subtly overlays its impression of forbidden love and drama on the main story, depicting a love triangle situation that the main story can only imply. The relationship between the Master and Michael is a more complexly layered one with elements of father and son, artist and muse, master and protégé and possibly even suggestions of a homosexual relationship between them. All this is difficult to convey in any film, never mind a silent one, but Dreyer, through the theme of the subplot implies as much as he shows.

    Michael (1924) [Masters of Cinema #3]

    The other element of Dreyer’s great skill in the film is through the set design and the performances of the actors themselves. The elaborateness of the sumptuous sets and the rich lighting all support the baroque drama of the plot’s romance and tragedy, resembling the lush melodrama of Gertrud. At the same time, there is a hint of the austere expressionism of Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan Of Arc, particularly in the superb naturalism of the actor’s performances, the silent expression showing depths of psychological complexity. Dreyer magnificently draws much meaning through the eyes of the actors rather than the exaggerated gestures we might be more familiar with from other silent films of the period. Michael hints at the greatness Dreyer would achieve in his later films, but in its own right it is a magnificent film from this era of cinema.

    Michael (1924) [Masters of Cinema #3]

    It’s particularly pleasing to see Michael get the treatment it merits on this DVD release. I’m not sure that there is strictly any need for including two almost identical versions of the film, but they are there anyway for completeness at no additional cost and you have the choice of which version you prefer. Michael is not one of Dreyer’s greatest films, but that is only in comparison to the likes of Ordet and The Passion of Joan of Arc. By any other standard, and particularly in comparison to other silent films of this period, Michael is a very good film indeed – an interesting stage in the development of both silent cinema and Dreyer’s work. It more than merits the attention that has been lavished upon it as part of Eureka’s Masters of Cinema collection.
    The Digital Fix
    Michael (1924) [Masters of Cinema #3]

    Special Features:
    - Two different transfers, two scores (Disc 1 - Neal Kurz, 2004; Disc 2 - Pierre Oser, 1993)
    - Full length audio commentary by Dreyer scholar Casper Tybjerg (Disc 1)
    - Both English and German intertitled versions
    - 26-minute illustrated Dreyer audio interview, 1965 (Disc 2)
    - 20-page booklet
    - Reprint of Tom Milne’s The World Inside (1971)
    - Reprint of Jean Renoir’s Dreyer’s Sin tribute (1968)
    - Translation of the original Danish programme (1924)
    - New 2004 essay by Nick Wrigley

    Disc 1 - USA transfer, 86 mins, English intertitles only
    Disc 2 - European transfer, 89 mins, German intertitles with optional English subtitles

    Many Thanks to Original uploader.

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