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This German silent is the most famous of the many adaptations of Hanns
Heinz Ewers’ ALRAUNE, and with good reason.
The film’s chilly atmosphere, perverse storyline and stunning lead
performance by the incomparable Brigitte Helm make for a unique and impacting
viewing experience.
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Hanns
Heinz Ewers’ ALRAUNE, initially published in Germany in 1911, was the second
entry in the author’s Frank Braun trilogy (THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE and
VAMPIRE came first and third) and a bonafide classic.
A fascinating variation on the Frankenstein concept, it told the
taboo-shattering tale of a soulless woman named Alraune, or Mandrake, the
product of an experiment in artificial insemination who seduces and drives
several men to madness, including her own scientist “father.”
Four
separate films were adapted from Ewers’ novel.
The first appeared in 1918, a Hungarian drama now believed to be lost.
The 1928 film under discussion followed, and remains the best known of
the bunch (though ironically not the
easiest to find). Next was a
German-made sound version in 1930 that starred the previous film’s headliner
Brigitte Helm, and finally another German version starring Erich Von Stroheim
made in 1952. As of this writing
I’ve only viewed the 1928 ALRAUNE, but find it difficult to believe any of
the other films could possibly match (much less surpass) it.
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Professor
Jacob ten Brinken decides
to conduct an inhumane experiment. Inspired
by the legend of the Mandrake root believed to sprout from the semen of hanged
men, Jacob hits upon the idea of creating a woman through artificial
insemination. To this end he injects the semen of a condemned murderer into
the womb of a prostitute, resulting in the birth of Alraune, a.k.a. Mandrake.
From
the start Alraune is a problem child, terrorizing the nuns at the Catholic
boarding school she attends. Before
long Alraune runs away from the place together with a smitten suitor; her
callous nature reveals itself during a train ride where she blows off her
suitor in favor of a horny magician. Alraune
accompanies the magician to the circus he performs in and briefly becomes part
of his stage act--but Alraune’s creator is combing the countryside for her,
and eventually tracks her down.
Jacob
whisks Alraune back to his home, where he keeps a close eye on her.
It’s clear he harbors none-too-submerged incestuous desires for her,
and that Alraune, being a soulless, calculating creature, is fully aware of
this fact. Yet she continues
seducing unsuspecting men, at least until she stumbles upon Jacob’s diary and
learns the horrific truth of her existence.
Alraune then becomes determined to do Jacob ten Brinken in...by seducing
and driving him mad!
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Fans
of Hanns Heinz Ewers’ novel will find that this adaptation plays fast and
loose with the text. Writer/director
Henrik Galeen pays lip service to Ewers’ overall concept but refashions the
narrative to suit his needs, turning it into a perverted love story centered on
Alraune and her lecherous father, while the novel’s protagonist Frank Braun
(here renamed Franz) is relegated to what amounts to an extended cameo.
But
there’s no question that Galeen’s approach works.
In place of Ewers’ wild, decadent narrative the film contains an
underlying current of apprehension that steadily builds, and all-but erupts in
the delirious climax. Along the
way Galeen creates many unforgettable images, such as Alraune freezing a pair
of ravenous lions in place with her icy stare, and the clawlike shadows of her
clutching hands upon her father’s sleeping body as she silently plots his
doom.
On
the downside the film takes some time to get going, with a somewhat confusing
first act in which the creation of Alraune is never adequately fleshed out.
But once Brigitte Helm enters the picture the film ignites. Helm’s screen presence is a commanding one, at once
innocent and predatory, off-putting and seductive.
Previous to this film Helm was known for playing the robotic Maria in
METROPOLIS, and again imparts a distinctly inhuman aura as the soulless Alraune.
The legendary filmmaker/actor Paul Wegener (creator/star of classics
like THE STUDENT OF PRAGUE, 1913 and DER GOLEM, 1920), as the perverted
Professor ten Brinken, matches Helm in an admirably unshowy performance.
But
for all that Henrik Galeen, despite his brilliance, never quite matched the
filmmaking genius of his contemporaries Wegener, Fritz Lang or F.W. Murneau.
That’s evident in ALRAUNE’S tacked-on happy ending, a thoroughly
unconvincing bit of whimsy that doesn’t negate the brilliance of all that
came before, but does lessen it.
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ALRAUNE
Ama-Film GmbH
Director: Henrik Galeen
Producer: Helmut Schreiber
Screenplay: Henrik Galeen
(Based on a novel by Hanns Heinz Ewers)
Cinematography: Franz Planer
Cast: Brigitte Helm, Paul Wegener, Ivan Petrovich, Wolfgang Zilzer, Louis
Ralph, Hans Trautner, John Loder, Mia Pankau, Valeska Gert, Georg John,
Alexander Sascha, Heinrich Schroth
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