The Hands of Orlac

A fascinating silent by Robert Wiene, who I guess will always be linked with CABINET OF DR CALIGARI, but in many ways this is a superior effort to his more famous endeavour. Let's be brutally honest: for all of CALIGARI'S virtuoso expressionist design flourishes, it lacked a lot when it came to plot and pacing. By the same token THE HANDS OF ORLAC is plot-lite and slow moving, but Conrad Veidt brings so many fascinating movements and facial mannerisms to the title role as he emotes his repulsion towards his new self. The brilliant sleepwalking sequence where Veidt moves with such graceful menace is alone worth the price of purchase! Interestingly, film theorist Thomas Elseasser in his book WEIMAR CINEMA AND AFTER (highly recommended for Weimar film buffs) suggested that THE HANDS OF ORLAC depicts castration panic (Yikes!) - which, considering this film was made in Vienna (psychoanalysis-central), gives a highly intriguing angle!!! Although I found the ending of ORLAC disappointing and more than a little trite, this film deserves to be in the collection of any Weimar devotee.There is also an extremely interesting featurette on the DVD in which the restorer of ORLAC, Brett Wood, freely discusses the relative merits of the Murnau Stiftung 35mm print (MS) versus the Rohauer Collection 16mm (RC). It's informative and opened my eyes to a few things with silent movies, especially learning about how two cameras were used when filming. Wood makes for an excellent narrator.Wood explains that the restoration uses the MS print largely because it's a sharper print, whereas the RC print is high in contrast but poor in definition. However watching the scenes on the featurette made me realise that in some ways the RC camera angles, speed and editing is often superior to the MS, despite the clarity. On balance I think the MS was a good choice - except for one decision that Wood took and that is not including the double exposure effect during Regine's confession in the final restoration. Wood correctly describes this alternative take as illustrating an hypnotic influence over Regine and I think it was a real mistake not to use it. Considering that we had already had a similar visual effect earlier on "haunting" Orlac's thoughts, it would seem appropriate to give continuity of effect and expression throughout the entire film, rather than just at the start. In fact, the odd request for Regine to "seduce" Orlac's hands (Elseasser makes even more sense now!) seems thoroughly bizarre without including this effect - why would someone in their right mind obey such a peculiar instruction if they were not in fact hypnotised?! But, then again we are talking Weimar Germany...All debate aside, I thoroughly enjoyed ORLAC, and silent films fan will too!

A unique and special part of silent cinema was the German Expressionist style of the 1920s which is characterized by the emphasis on emotions conveyed by atmospheric lighting and expressive acting, as opposed to what we might call `realism'. Although "The Hands of Orlac" is technically an Austrian production, the country is so closely related to Germany that it features a mainly German cast and crew, and all the typical characteristics of the classic German Expressionist style. Scenes have strong shadows or lighting to emphasize moods, and are usually drawn out to allow the actors to fully express emotions, but there are also moments of realism such as a very convincing train wreck site, as well as the fast-moving climax which brings everything back down to earth. Throughout most of this nearly 2-hour-length film, an eerie modern orchestral score contributes to the somewhat other-worldly feeling of the whole story, which revolves around the concept of transplanted hands taking over their new host with characteristics of the hands' original owner. This fascinating idea comes from a French writer of the early 1900s when such Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror stories captured the imagination of many Europeans, and with the advent of moving pictures, they became perfect material for the German Expressionist style, of which "Cabinet of Dr Caligari" and "Nosferatu" are just some of the most famous examples.Besides the artistic element of using light and shadow, the highlight for me personally is Conrad Veidt's magnificent performance as Orlac, the concert pianist who receives the hands of a convicted murderer after being injured in a train wreck. This role is by far the most intensely expressive and emotion-packed performance I've seen by Veidt, and he carries the suspenseful energy of the story right through the entire film. More than just artistic expression however, "The Hands of Orlac" has a clever murder mystery theme running through it as well which deserves a little careful attention to fully appreciate. With excellent picture quality and very suitable music, this DVD is further enhanced with some bonus features including detailed notes with background information on the film and its cast and crew, as well as a trailer for its equally gripping 1935 sound remake "Mad Love" with Peter Lorre. Needless to say, "The Hands of Orlac" deserves its place alongside the best-known German silent classics, and it has been worth the wait to see the full length restored version released by Kino Video.

ORLAC is a gem from the early days of German expressionist filmmaking, with the underrated Conrad Veidt playing a concert pianist who loses his hands in a train accident and has the hands of a murderer implanted in their place. But the story takes second place to the cinematography, with wonderful set-pieces such as the mansion of Orlac's father, the train wreck, and Orlac's piano room. Fans of NOSFERATU will definitely want to take a look here.

Conrad Veidt is (as always) worth watching. But this film is a profound disappointment. To begin with, the compelling cover art for the disc is a publicity photo that never appears in the film. And while Veidt's performance is perfectly in keeping with the acting style in the silent cinema of 1924, the woman who plays his wife gives one the single worst, most ludicrously over-the-top performances I've seen in a film of any era. And Weine's direction (liberated from the tightly expressionistic sets of CALIGARI) is simply inept. Time and again, he blocks his actors into awkward situations and simply leaves them to extricate themselves as best they can. His misguided direction continues to the last scene, in which poor Conrad (as slim and lithe as he was as Cesare is forced to pick his wife up and carry her to a bench. This might have been a gallant gesture if the woman hadn't weighed at least 200 pounds. As it is, he is clearly struggling to carry her weight and literally staggers to the bench where he drops her like a sack of potatoes. Neither a graceful nor a necessary piece of business. And finally, this copy of the film boasts an aggressively atonal soundtrack that (I warrant) will rid your home of any insects that might inhabit it. It is consistently annoying and intrusive. Needless to say, as much as I admire Mr. Veidt, I will never watch this film again.

The Hands of Orlac is the latest classic silent film to get a re-release through Eureka! This highly unsettling movie was directed by Robert Wiene. A director well known for his other classic, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari from 1920. The film stars Conrad Veidt as Paul Orlac, a well known pianist who loses his hands in an unfortunate train collision. His hands are then replaced by that of a murderer and finds himself struggling to deal with this dramatic change in his life.As a movie, I really loved watching The Hands of Orlac. The film is quite dark in its themes and approach but it's still very watchable. You felt every bit of emotion coming from Veidt as his character slowly slips into insanity. Alexandra Sorina as his lady Yvonne was a little over the top for my liking. Way more than usual for these films. It was a little off putting and even strange at times. But I'm just going to believe it was a choice to go with the outrageous theme of the entire film.The set design and lighting was gorgeous. It was dark, wreaked of a fowl atmosphere and featured all the distorted scenery you'd expect from German Expressionism, albeit a little more on the subtle side. My favourite scene in terms of visuals is where Yvonne and Paul visit their father. It's two brief scenes, but it's very striking visually and quite beautiful artistically. The visual element is elevated by the fantastic score by Johannes Kalitzke. This score is all over the place in terms of style and tone. There's lots of beautiful strings, out of tune piano's, some very eerie chanting and lots of percussive beats. It's a serious mish mash of ideas and something I've never heard in a silent movie before. It really set the mood of the film and complimented its madness perfectly.The Eureka! bluray is fairly good looking. The century old film has aged fairly well and has been restored by Filmarchiv Austria to look great in high definition. There's also the films score presented in LPCM 2.0 and the original German language intertitles with optional English subtitles. There's a cool audio commentary with author Stephen Jones and Kim Newman. There's also a video essay and an alternative presentation of the film. This version features alternative takes etc and is here courtesy of F.W. Marnau Foundation.As far as silent movies go, I would add this to the must have collection. It's very grim and a little over the top in terms of acting, but it's a fantastic story that's been well directed and scored. It's a very memorable movie and I couldn't recommend it more.

The tale of concert pianist Paul Orlac, who lost his hands in a train wreck and had them transplanted with those of a killer, has been the source for various productions over the years, but here’s the chance to see the original, produced in 1924 just four years after Maurice Renard’s novel was published. A classic of German Expressionism that’s equally matched by exaggerated acting from stars Conrad Veidt and Alexandra Sorina as the pianist’s wife. Directed by Robert Wiene, it’s a lesser production than his earlier “Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”, which also starred Veidt, but maintains a chilly presence throughout thanks to its dark, gothic sets and the progression of Orlac’s descent into madness.Now finely restored, this BluRay release also includes an alternative longer (110 as opposed to 93 minutes) version and a 32-page booklet with features on the film and director Wiene, a generally overlooked contributor to the Expressionism movement. (Incidentally the best remake came in 1935 as "Mad Love”, which marked Peter Lorre’s US movie debut).

A young wife awaits the return of her famous pianist husband from a long hospital stay. Her excitement and longing for his love are palpable as she clock-watches in a flower-filled room. But when he does arrive, he announces that, not only will he not lay a hand on her, he never again can touch any other person. He is terrified of his own body, and the hands seem to be changing his very nature. His musical talent is gone, the hands of an executed murderer he believes he had grafted on cannot now create music. So it's kind of psychological: a study of a mind and body at war with each other. Veidt gives us terror, fear, anguish, shock, shattered nobility, the mute piano: nothing is held back. The ostensible cause of this catastrophe is a train crash, which is staged not for spectacle and the gung-ho excitement of just smashing stuff up, and but so that we can see other things behind it. Darkness, stabbing lights, fear, confusion, splintered structures, flames and smoke, bodies stretchered out: this isn't just a train crash but the historical experience of war. It has to be amongst the most genuinely frightening filmic train disasters: even to witness it is terrifying.The film has of course its fantasy plot dealing with a master criminal (scary Fritz Kortner) who tries to pin his own crimes on Orlac by convincing him that the hands done it. Hence there is an 'explanation' for what Orlac and his wife go through and hence some hope that the truth will out. What Orlac purportedly 'done' includes parricide. One of the film's most horrible premises is accepted without question; this is the caustic hatred and iron loathing that Orlac's father displays towards his son's plight. Not a penny from him; his son can go starve. Satisfying, someone slips a knife into the old monster. Some historical generational comments here?Rescue and regeneration do come at last, thanks to the sexy maid whose attempted seduction scene with Orlac is a sizzler. But now he can touch his wife. It would have been nice to see him confidently belting out Chopin again on his big black coffin-like piano, but the film doesn't seem as interested in this element of artistic vocation as it is in restoring the character's sexual and social potency.An enthralling and emotional experience, though the image is flecky and not as clear as one would have hoped in an ideal world, but we are lucky to have these stunning performances at all I suppose. That's the only reason for four stars instead of five.

Conrad Veidt is excellent as usual. Picture quality good for a film nearly a 100 years old. Psychological horror thriller.

Classic celluloid brilliance - nuff said.