Das geheimnisvolle X

This film, directed by Benjamin Christensen is regarded by many who have seen it as one of the greatest directorial debuts in cinema history. The Museum of Modern Art in New York houses a print of the film, without subtitles which makes it hard to follow at times, and not even a title or credits sequence, if the film ever had one. Two years ago, MOMA had a wonderful tribute to Christensen in which they screened all of his surviving films. This one is one of his two or three most important and one has to keep reminding his or herself that this is his FIRST film at a time when motion pictures were not even twenty years old!

Christensen is credited with being the first filmmaker to consciously shoot into direct light, creating silhouettes and magnificent compositions. He doesn't waste any time in this film, dazzling the audience with (at the time) very complicated lighting set-ups involving sunsets and characters lighting up a lamp in a rooms of darkness. Indeed this film was made two years before "Birth of a Nation" and artistically is just as good as that film and in some ways better.

It would be hard to assess if Christensen was the first to achieve the great things he accomplished since so much early cinema is lost, but there is no doubt that he had a mastery of lighting and composition, and for such an early filmmaker it is truly astounding. Very few of his films are available to the public, but the few that are findable (Mockery, Seven Footprints to Satan, and Witchcraft Through the Ages) are all cinematically interesting and at times downright fascinating.

First of all, I really wish I could've found a version that was translated to English so I could more easily understand what was happening. From what I could gather through context and online summaries, it's a webbing romantic thriller that's more melodramatic than really good. However, the visuals are great enough to make it worthwhile (silhouetted windmill, redrawing elephant over sleeping wife).

A tale of injustice and redemption at the onset of the First World War. Fascinating glimpse into the distant past.

A wonderful silent film! This is one of the most innovative silent films ever. The danish director Benjamin Christensen made his director debut with this film that he financed himself. With his own company Dansk Biografkompagni, he started filming this film, that he wrote over one night. The plot in the film is good but not great. What makes this film so interesting is how Benjamin Christensen used darkness vs. light to create an atmosphere. Before this film a lack of light was considered as a lack of talent, but Benjamin proved that shadows can be very effective.

A great film

When you look well into the past of cinema, what you usually get are historically significant films, and that isn't absolutely a synonym for good films. Well here's one you may want to watch simply for the fact that it is good.

Sealed orders is Christiansen's first film (a man I only know for the film "Haxan")and it is war drama at it's best. Tragic twist of fate, clear storyline, good pacing and great lighting work. It's a few years in advance on it's time, but it isn't technical wonders of the cinema of the 20s or of now. It's still theatrical, though it isn't anything like the early films of it's time and before. The film survived to our days in a great condition, nothing like the jerky pictures moving at a wrong speed we like to think of.

To put it simply, you'll watch it and have a great time, as long you like dramas of this kind. But if you actually cared enough to read a IMDb review of a 1914 film, It's surely your kind.