Fantasma

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.

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

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.

The story of a man Lorenz Lubota (played by Alfred Abel) who chases a woman Pfandleiherin Schwabe (Grete Berger) who keeps escaping him and is, virtually, like a phantom. This drama is not as potent as Murnau's other attempts at heart wrenching dramatic cinema (such as TABU and SUNRISE). Much like SUNRISE this film suffers from a running time that could, easily, be cut in half. There are not as many interesting elements in this story as, say, THE HAUNTED CASTLE or FAUST. But still it is worth a look for any of Murnau's dedicated fans. It includes Murnau's usually study of human suffering and torment, and his supernatural imagery (a ghostly horse carriage, and a leaning city- much like Weine's CAL

In Germany, the honest city clerk and aspirant poet Lorenz Lubota (Alfred Abel) lives a poor but decent life with his mother (Frieda Richard), his ambitious sister Melanie (Aud Egede Nissen) and his younger brother Hugo Lubota (H.H. v. Twardowski). Lorenz shows his poems to the father of his sweetheart Marie Starke (Lil Dagover), who is the local bookbinder, and the man wrongly believes that Lorenz is a promising poet. The bookbinder promises to show his poems to a prominent professor for evaluation, but the man concludes that they are worthless. Meanwhile Melanie leaves her home to become a prostitute in a cabaret.

When the distracted Lorenz is going to work, a woman named Veronika Harlan (Lya de Putti) that is driving a horse-drawn chariot runs over him and he follows Veronika and immediately has a crush on her. Lorenz pays a visit to his wealthy and wary aunt and pawnbroker Schwabe (Grete Berger) to borrow some money to buy an appropriate suit since he believes that he will become a successful writer and make lots of money with the royalties of his poems. However he is followed by a swindler (Anton Edthofer) that dates Schwabe and they spend the borrowed money in a cabaret where Lorenz meets Melanie. The swindler stays with Melanie and convinces Lorenz to borrow a large amount from Schwabe. The naive Lorenz gives part of the money to the swindler and uses the rest to buy clothes to Veronika to seduce her. When Schwabe discovers that Lorenz is a liar and his poems will not be published, she gives a three days schedule for him to pay his debts; otherwise she will call the police. But the swindler suggests a scheme to Lorenz.

"Phantom" is a moralist tale of corruption of human character and redemption by F.W. Murnau. The story is divided in six acts and has flaws and lack of explanation for many situations, but since the film was reconstructed and restored in 2003 by the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv of Berlin, parts of the original work might be missing. The dramatic plot has many parallel stories entwined through the lead character Lorenz.

I saw this film in a Brazilian DVD with a nice soundtrack and in accordance with the Wikipedia, the first screening of "Phantom" in Brazil was on 30 October 2008, on the 120th anniversary of F.W. Murnau. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Fantasma" ("Phantom")