Oh, God, make it stop, make it stop!
That is, no doubt, what's going through the mind of the misguided youth Balduin in Paul Wegener's Student of Prague as his Doppelgänger careens about wreaking havoc. It's certainly what's going through my mind as I watch this nice DVD of the old silent. The movie? No, the music, which appears to be a shiny 21st century attempt to channel the power of the Mighty Wurlitzers of the old movie palaces. Unfortunately, the composer appears to have no idea of how music was used with silent movies, and we have a piece of portentously repetitious modern jazz for organ. There is no increase in tension, no romance, no threat, no humor, no resolution. So far young Balduin has sullenly sloped off from a beergarden where his friends are carousing, chatted with a mysterious stranger, rescued a beautiful woman from a riding accident, bought flowers from a barefoot maiden, gone courting, been flouted by his ladylove's father, signed a deal with the devil, and is now pitching woo at a ball. The music has been one unchanging cascade of arpeggios. It's enough to raise the ghost of Reginald Dixon and send him, trailed by every other silent film accompanist of the past, into the recording booth screaming "You're doing it wrong, for godssake!"
The movie itself isn't at all bad for something from 1913, and has far less of the broad acting you often see in old silent films. More title cards would help, but I suppose it's a bit late to suggest that.
What is it about Prague, anyway? Should we blame this on Rudolph II and his crowd?
The movie itself isn't at all bad for something from 1913, and has far less of the broad acting you often see in old silent films. More title cards would help, but I suppose it's a bit late to suggest that.
What is it about Prague, anyway? Should we blame this on Rudolph II and his crowd?