Atlântida

Note that the DVD copy from Alpha Video is a bit rough--scratchy and a bit blurry. So, you really must want to see this film if you bother buying this one! I was quite surprised by "The Lost Atlantis", as I expected quite a bit from it since it was directed by the famous G.W. Pabst--the same guy who directed Louise Brooks' famous films ("Diary of a Lost Girl" and "Pandora's Box") as well as the brilliant German dramas "Kameradschaft" and "Westfront 1918". Instead, I found the film to be quite dull and lacking momentum. In other words, it has an unusual but interesting idea but is so poorly paced that I found myself losing interest as the film progressed. My assumption is that this will happen to you, too, if you decide to watch.

The premise of this film is that Atlantis was not lost in sea but covered in the Sahara Desert. And, unknown to outsiders, this bizarre land still exists--and is ruled by a goofy lady named Antinea (Brigitte Helm). For the most part, folks just sit around in this land doing nothing while Antinea spends her time jerking men around because you assume she has nothing better to do. If she says to kill, they do--and it's all VERY slow and mysterious--with LOTS of staring from Antinea. In fact, she rarely talks (possibly due to her strong German accent) but lounges about and makes men dance because she is, supposedly, so exotic and enticing. Yeah,...whatever.

All in all, this is a pretty bad film. The plot is WAY too slow, the acting way too poor and you wonder how Pabst could have made such a film. I was hoping for a strange escapist sort of film (like "She", 1935) but instead it was just boredom from start to finish.

FYI--Helm was famous as the lady who was the evil robot woman from "Metropolis". However, in "Metropolis" her performance was much more human and emotive!

Upon hearing theories that Atlantis wasn't buried in the sea but rather under the sands of the Sahara Desert, the French send two army officers by the names of "Captain Morhange" (Gustav Diessl) and "Lieutenant Saint-Avit" (John Stuart) to try to locate it. Unfortunately, once they get close to their destination the tribesmen they hired betray them and turn them over to the evil queen of Atlantis named "Antinea" (Brigitte Helm). Surprisingly, Queen Antinea falls madly in love with Captain Morhange while at the same time Lieutenant Saint-Avit becomes attracted to her. But because he is a loyal French officer, Captain Morhange is more concerned about the health and welfare of his subordinate and this results in severe consequences for both of them. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this is one of those old and rare films that is probably better appreciated from an historical perspective than from a more modern context. Yet even with certain allowances made it is still undermined by the rather bizarre plot and abrupt script. Of course, the fact that it was translated into three different languages (English, German and French) no doubt affected that to an extent. In any case, although it was not without its flaws I still found the movie to be somewhat entertaining and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

This is the 3rd, and most recent, in the three films I've seen by controversial director G.W. Pabst, after his extraordinary silent classics, 'Pandora's Box' and 'Diary of a Lost Girl', both starring legendary screen goddess Louise Brooks. It's the English-language version of 'L'Atlantide', itself a sound-remake of the '21 silent film by Jacques Feyder, and, by being mostly shot on location in the Sahara Desert, went against the grain at the time of shooting movies exclusively in studio.

In Brigitte Helm, mainly known for her starring role of Fritz Lang's sci-fi magnum opus, 'Metropolis', he had a stunning villainous female, who would have made a great femme fatale, had she continued on the following decade in film noir. The script is nondescript and a tad melodramatic, and the other actors are decidedly pedestrian, but Pabst's visual elan and directorial genius shines through and lifts an otherwise drab picture. Worth your time if you're a fan of adventure films of the era, however.

One of, if not the first version of the novel L'ATLANTIDE, concerns the story of two French Legionnaires who stumble upon the remains of Atlantis under the Sahara desert. There they meet various people including the Queen, played here by Bridgette Helm (Maria in Metropolis).

There have been at least six versions of the story brought to the screen and this is the second version I've seen.(The first on I saw was Siren of Atlantis and its pretty awful). Clearly filmed on location on the desert this movie is interesting to watch for a while, however once the pair ends up underground the film seems to get lost. I don't know if its because the print I saw is some 10 minutes shorter than the official running time on IMDb, or if there is something missing from the novel, either way the movie just sort of stops and runs in circles while I tried desperately to figure out what I was seeing. While it never gets really bad, it does get discouraging since its clear that there is a story here that would draw film makers back again and again, unfortunately what ever that quality is is missing. Running some 78 minutes this version feels twice as long.

I can't really recommend this movie since it just sort of misses the target. However if you're interested in old fantasy movies or ones that have been filmed repeatedly I'd give it a shot, if nothing else Bridgette Helm is easy on the eyes. 5 out of 10.

Atlantis in the Sahara? This English-language version of L'ATLANTIDE follows two French Foreign Legionnaires lost in the Algerian desert who stumble into the subterranean kingdom of Antinea, the enigmatic ruler of the title. Fantasy buffs may find this production is all elaborate build-up with little dramatic payoff, while the politically inclined may see this as a late spasm of colonial chic that exploits real people for their exoticism. However, for fans of director Pabst's erotic indirection [as in PANDORA'S BOX], this makes a heady lesson in how to build a sensuous, suggestive atmosphere.

Pabst sets his cameras gliding across the sands and into real locations in the Hoggar mountains. Towering, black-shrouded tribesmen appear, then sleek native women beckon with mysterious gestures of invitation. When they descend into the maze of tunnels that is Antinea's kingdom, they find a tipsy, excitable Quentin Crisp-y character, a longtime resident who holds some key to its history. As Antinea, the great German star Brigitte Helm has a mesmerizing presence as she lolls on a divan, with a menacing leopard at her side. Equally imposing is a monumental stone head of her visage that figures in several memorable compositions. When the protagonist [who is not a traditional hero] is first summoned to Antinea, what unfathomable depravity will take place? They play chess, of course. The story comes from a popular French novel, but it is Pabst's fluid style that makes this masterly kitsch.