100th ANNIVERSARY SCREENING!
The magnum opus of German Expressionist director Henrik Galeen, the 1926 version of THE STUDENT OF PRAGUE is a reimagining of the Faust legend. Set in early nineteenth-century Prague, the film concerns university student Balduin (Conrad Veidt) who makes a deal with the devil—embodied as the sinister trickster Scapinelli (Werner Krauss)—to obtain wealth, status, and the hand of the beautiful Margit (Agnes Esterhazy). Little does Balduin know that in selling his soul, his mirror’s reflection, disembodied, runs amok committing crimes throughout the city. Gothic and macabre, THE STUDENT OF PRAGUE is a key work in the German Expressionist canon. A remake of Paul Wegener’s 1913 film version, Galeen’s film demonstrated the Weimar era’s substantial advancement in fantasy filmmaking techniques. THE STUDENT OF PRAGUE also reunited THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI’S (1919) Veidt and Krauss in a thematic nod to the visionary cinematic nightmare that started it all.
Live accompaniment by Marilyn Lerner
Silent Revue is curated by Alicia Fletcher and sponsored by Hollywood Suite