El beso de la fama

PHANTOM is a very heavy-handed morality tale of a simple man who inexplicably becomes infatuated with a woman after seeing her only briefly. Despite being a seemingly nice guy, he throws his life away and the film revels in this spiral as well as the parallel story of his sister who becomes a prostitute.

While the film on technical merits isn't bad (it did have some inventive camera work), it was a major letdown since it was directed by the legendary director F. W. Murnau. Had it been done by some studio hack, then I could understand why this film was so hokey and unbelievable--but from Murnau, his fans have come to expect so much more.

Unlike some reviews on IMDb, mine is a bit unusual in that I have now seen just about every known Murnau film in existence today (PHANTOM was the last) and so I can compare it to the body of his work. Clearly, it is the worst of his films and lacks the magic and genius that Murnau is known for having. You might be surprised to hear that although his most famous film is NOSFERATU, it may not be his best film--mostly because NOSFERATU, like PHANTOM, seems a tad old-fashioned and stilted--even for 1922. This can be forgiven in NOSFERATU because despite these lulls, the rest of the film is so transcendent and amazing--making it one of the greatest silent films of all time. There is nothing about PHANTOM that can make you overlook the very dated plot--it's just heavy-handed and not particularly memorable.

As I said, Murnau made some truly amazing films. Aside from NOSFERATU, he is most famous for the Oscar-winning SUNRISE, but neither of these is my favorite. I love and recommend you see FAUST because the camera work and artistry is just amazing--making Goethe's story a freshness and style that just have to be seen to believed. I also liked it because I (unfortunately) have read the very long book "Faust" and found the film actually made me like the story! THE LAST LAUGH and TARTUFF are also simply wonderful films that any serious student of German cinema must see.

So, my advice is to watch PHANTOM if you like, but if you aren't acquainted with F. W. Murnau's films, try any of the others first--otherwise you might not be able to detect his genius and deftness.

Town clerk Lorenz Lubota is a retiring bookish fellow about to settle into a contented hum drum existence when he is bowled over by a carriage on his way to work . Only stunned by the accident he becomes obsessed with the striking beauty of the driver turning the rest of his world upside down. Lorenz then foolishly pursues the woman with an ungovernable monomania that creates havoc in both his personal and professional life. Exploited by a slick grifter he betrays a benefactress and when his clumsy attempt to win the hand of his obsession falters he is exploited by a mother-daughter team and the spiral picks up speed.

Made the same year as Nosferatu director FW Murnau taps down the phantasmagoria considerably in this slow go that reveals much of its outcome early, making it more of a cautionary tale than an intense suspense. Incurable romantic Lorenz moves through the film trance like most of the way and such unabated gullibility wears Phantom down.

Their are a handful of lush tinted classic Murnau compositions that inform and a touch of misogyny that allows his female characters some lurid depth but for this cinema giant it is a sub par effort.

Hot off his formidable achievement with "Nosferatu", F.W. Murnau made another expressionistic film, "Phantom". This one depicts Lorenz (Alfred Abel), a clerk who becomes obsessed with a woman (Lya De Putti) who accidentally struck him with a carriage. The movie contains some neat effects to highlight Lorenz's descent into madness. There are of course the buildings, but even more impressive is the ghostly carriage that emerges from a black void. A short documentary about the production makes note of how Murnau accomplished these interesting tricks.

One might call "Phantom" a precursor to "The Blue Angel" and "Lolita", but I wouldn't call that totally accurate. The latter two are more straightforward about their subject matter, while this one is deliberately surreal and dreamlike. But no matter how you interpret "Phantom", you can't deny that it is a very good representation of inter-war German cinema. The movie is a little slow at times, but definitely worth seeing.

Maybe my expectations were too high for this film, but after catching it on tape from TCM's Silent Sunday feature, I felt let down. I expected the same genius from Murnau as Nosferatu and Sunrise. All of the cinematic elements are there, but it just felt incomplete.

The story revolves around a man obsessed with an unattainable woman, and his attempts to substitute for his unfulfilled desires.

My biggest issue with the film was with Alfred Abel as Lorenz in the lead. He was great in Metropolis in a totally different role, but here he looked too old for the part and out of place, not quite finding the firm ground to build the character. Other players were good especially Aud Egede Nissen as Lorenz's sister Melanie.

Worth a look for Murnau's style, but a let down overall.

FW Murnau was a fantastic director, all his films being extremely well made, rich in atmosphere and thematically intriguing and even daring in a way that is still quite unique and ground-breaking. It is not hard to see why his films influenced a lot of major directors, why he was one of the best and most influential directors in his day and it is sad that he didn't make more films and that he died too young. Even his lesser work is still worth seeing if mainly for historical interest.

Lost for a long time but rediscovered and available in a not too bad print, 'Phantom' is one of Murnau's minor films. It is nowhere near on the same level as 'Nosferatu', 'Faust', 'The Last Laugh' and 'Sunrise', people will say that it is unfair to compare and that it should stand on his own. Which is fair enough, but it is hard not to when his best work is as brilliant as it is and when some other films are still worth watching but a little bland at the same time.

'Phantom' is one of those cases. As said with a few others, the acting even for a silent film tends to be too theatrical and overdone. Was expecting more from Alfred Abel, good in other things but a bit miscast here. Not just in age but for my tastes he is too wild and comes over as borderline neurotic.

The story for 'Phantom' is somewhat too slight for the running time, feeling like an over-stretched short film. Less intertitles and ones that didn't slow the film down too much and it being less flashback heavy would have helped a bit. Lorenz's descent felt too rushed and out of nowhere, needing a lot more time to progress, that way it would have been easier to root for him.

Having said all of that, 'Phantom' is not a bad film despite how all of that sounds. It is beautifully directed by Murnau and as expected wonderfully made. Some very atmospheric and imaginative photography and quite transfixing imagery that allows one to provoke thought. Luckily doing so without being too heavy on it.

Appreciated too its use of themes not explored a lot in films those days and would be considered quite bold to portray. Some of the acting comes over well, with a great performance from Grete Berger that genuinely unsettles.

Summing up, worth uncovering but far from a Murnau essential. 6/10