El beso de la fama

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.

A much underestimated movie. I've seen several of Murnau's flicks, and while I am the generally a big fan of his work, this one is actually one of my favorites. In a dreamlike manner it tells a story of main character's obsession with a manipulative and cruel woman. His love and desire makes him lose his senses - to a point where object of his passion becomes like a haunting spectre, a phantom. In some way Phantom is a forecast of another german picture, the famous Blaue Engel. Although the plot in one way or another has become a Hollywood cliche over the years, the movie is dark, strange and compelling. Murnau's depiction of insanity, especially in the final scenes is by itself a milestone of cinema.

Silent German film about a meek, mild man who seems to have no life or goals. Then he meets a blond-haired girl riding a chariot. He immediately falls in love with her. It leads to his downfall ending in murder. But there is redemption.

This silent film was long believed to be lost. Thankfully it's been rediscovered which is great--this is a wonderful drama. My synopsis may sound a little strange but this is a hard film to describe--you have to see it to understand. It's beautifully directed by F.W. Muranu--many elaborate camera tricks and fade ins and outs. Also it deals with some touchy subjects such as prostitution (never called that but it's there). The acting is a little over the top but that's to be expected in silent movies. But there is a wonderful (if frightening) performance by Grete Berger as Mrs. Schwibe. My only complaint is that this film is shown in flashback which somewhat dilutes the drama (that's why I'm only giving it a 9). Still, this is a great silent film. It's not up to Muranu's "Nosferatu" or "Sunrise"--but then what is? Well 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.

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.