Customer Reviews

The Hands of Orlac (1924)

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I have waited since 1968 to see this movie which I first encountered in Carlos Claren's seminal book AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE HORROR FILM which traces horror movies from 1895 through 1967. It has been worth the wait. In fact I was so taken with the film that I immediately watched it again and enjoyed it more the second time. Made in 1924 at the height of Expressionism in German silent cinema, THE HANDS OF ORLAC is the one of the finest examples of this genre that I have ever seen. Directed by Robert Wiene (THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI) the film combines lighting, sets, camerawork, and performances into a dreamscape of enormous power.

The movie is like a hallucination come to life as we follow the descent of Conrad Veidt into the depths of madness. Veidt, more than any other silent performer, used his body language to illustrate and convey the most intense emotions. What really surprised me was the sensual almost erotic quality of scenes involving him and the two principal female performers Alexandra Sorina and Carmen Cartellieri. This adds an element not to be found in the more stylized CALIGARI and shows that there was more to Robert Wiene than we have seen so far. The story of a concert pianist whose amputated hands are replaced with those of a murderer has been remade a number of times most notably by MGM in 1935 as MAD LOVE with Peter Lorre. However none of those versions can compare to this one. Having said that let me also say that those unfamiliar with silent films will find this version tough going for it requires you to adjust your present day expectations to those of the silent era where body language and visual storytelling are everything. If you can do that then you should find THE HANDS OF ORLAC a rewarding experience especially on repeated viewings.

The restoration of the film isn't top notch (it resembles how NOSFERATU used to look) but thanks to a remarkably brooding and effective score from Paul Mercer you'll be drawn in before you know it and will hardly notice the imperfections. This is a much better film than THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI and until other of his movies see the light of day to contradict the fact, THE HANDS OF ORLAC is Robert Wiene's masterpiece. Thanks to Kino International and the F.W Murnau Foundation for making it available.

A unique and special part of silent cinema was the German Expressionist style of the 1920s which is characterized by the emphasis on emotions conveyed by atmospheric lighting and expressive acting, as opposed to what we might call `realism'. Although "The Hands of Orlac" is technically an Austrian production, the country is so closely related to Germany that it features a mainly German cast and crew, and all the typical characteristics of the classic German Expressionist style. Scenes have strong shadows or lighting to emphasize moods, and are usually drawn out to allow the actors to fully express emotions, but there are also moments of realism such as a very convincing train wreck site, as well as the fast-moving climax which brings everything back down to earth. Throughout most of this nearly 2-hour-length film, an eerie modern orchestral score contributes to the somewhat other-worldly feeling of the whole story, which revolves around the concept of transplanted hands taking over their new host with characteristics of the hands' original owner. This fascinating idea comes from a French writer of the early 1900s when such Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror stories captured the imagination of many Europeans, and with the advent of moving pictures, they became perfect material for the German Expressionist style, of which "Cabinet of Dr Caligari" and "Nosferatu" are just some of the most famous examples.

Besides the artistic element of using light and shadow, the highlight for me personally is Conrad Veidt's magnificent performance as Orlac, the concert pianist who receives the hands of a convicted murderer after being injured in a train wreck. This role is by far the most intensely expressive and emotion-packed performance I've seen by Veidt, and he carries the suspenseful energy of the story right through the entire film. More than just artistic expression however, "The Hands of Orlac" has a clever murder mystery theme running through it as well which deserves a little careful attention to fully appreciate. With excellent picture quality and very suitable music, this DVD is further enhanced with some bonus features including detailed notes with background information on the film and its cast and crew, as well as a trailer for its equally gripping 1935 sound remake "Mad Love" with Peter Lorre. Needless to say, "The Hands of Orlac" deserves its place alongside the best-known German silent classics, and it has been worth the wait to see the full length restored version released by Kino Video.

A concert pianist is maimed in a train accident.

Tragically...his hands...THE medium of his art are stripped from him.

Then serendipitiy...a doctor performs a surgical replacement and gives him his hands back.

The only problem: the replacement hands came from a killer!

Like an extended rock video this movie plays out its premise. Front and center all the way is Veidt (yes THE Conrad Veidt of Cabinet of Dr. Calligari, Thief of Baghdad, and of course, Casablanca), who comes ever deeper under the shadow of where his hands have been.

And what makes the man? Is it what's in his heart or does his body itself retain what he is?

These metaphysical questions become all too real in the hands (please pardon the pun) of Veidt whose every move conveys the terror of his situation.

I'm not going to spoil your experience of this movie by telling you the ending. But I will say this. I think without make up or any real special effects Veidt manages in this movie to actually out perform even that king of Hollywood impersonation: Lon Chaney. Even though you see no suture lines, you buy that gag that these are someone else's hands and with it of course you buy into Veidt's all to real terror.

I've always been a fan of 1920s German cinema. There was something about that period just before the Nazis came to power that gave German film makers a leg up a communicating real horror through the medium of film. But even among truly great movies, this one still ranks high.

Rent or buy it but look at it and see why.

A fascinating silent by Robert Wiene, who I guess will always be linked with CABINET OF DR CALIGARI, but in many ways this is a superior effort to his more famous endeavour. Let's be brutally honest: for all of CALIGARI'S virtuoso expressionist design flourishes, it lacked a lot when it came to plot and pacing. By the same token THE HANDS OF ORLAC is plot-lite and slow moving, but Conrad Veidt brings so many fascinating movements and facial mannerisms to the title role as he emotes his repulsion towards his new self. The brilliant sleepwalking sequence where Veidt moves with such graceful menace is alone worth the price of purchase! Interestingly, film theorist Thomas Elseasser in his book WEIMAR CINEMA AND AFTER (highly recommended for Weimar film buffs) suggested that THE HANDS OF ORLAC depicts castration panic (Yikes!) - which, considering this film was made in Vienna (psychoanalysis-central), gives a highly intriguing angle!!! Although I found the ending of ORLAC disappointing and more than a little trite, this film deserves to be in the collection of any Weimar devotee.

There is also an extremely interesting featurette on the DVD in which the restorer of ORLAC, Brett Wood, freely discusses the relative merits of the Murnau Stiftung 35mm print (MS) versus the Rohauer Collection 16mm (RC). It's informative and opened my eyes to a few things with silent movies, especially learning about how two cameras were used when filming. Wood makes for an excellent narrator.

Wood explains that the restoration uses the MS print largely because it's a sharper print, whereas the RC print is high in contrast but poor in definition. However watching the scenes on the featurette made me realise that in some ways the RC camera angles, speed and editing is often superior to the MS, despite the clarity. On balance I think the MS was a good choice - except for one decision that Wood took and that is not including the double exposure effect during Regine's confession in the final restoration. Wood correctly describes this alternative take as illustrating an hypnotic influence over Regine and I think it was a real mistake not to use it. Considering that we had already had a similar visual effect earlier on "haunting" Orlac's thoughts, it would seem appropriate to give continuity of effect and expression throughout the entire film, rather than just at the start. In fact, the odd request for Regine to "seduce" Orlac's hands (Elseasser makes even more sense now!) seems thoroughly bizarre without including this effect - why would someone in their right mind obey such a peculiar instruction if they were not in fact hypnotised?! But, then again we are talking Weimar Germany...

All debate aside, I thoroughly enjoyed ORLAC, and silent films fan will too!

This silent German expressionism film reunites the star and director of "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." In "The Hands of Orlac" a concert pianist loses his hands in a train wreck, only to have the hands of a executed murderer transplanted onto him. The hands seem to have a mind of their own, and soon take control of his life. The sets are excellent, the dream sequence is very creepy, and the Kino transfer, while somewhat dark and not very sharp in places, is overall very good.

I purchased this film as part of Kino's box set "German Expressionism Collection," and I would rate it only slightly lower than "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." This film is still definitely worth watching and is one of the best expressionism films.

This German silent movie is a sensation and a must-see for any Conrad Veidt fan. The cast is also great and the movie is one of the best I've purchased yet. I recommend it to anyone who is into silent movies/thrillers/suspense/1920's.

ORLAC is a gem from the early days of German expressionist filmmaking, with the underrated Conrad Veidt playing a concert pianist who loses his hands in a train accident and has the hands of a murderer implanted in their place. But the story takes second place to the cinematography, with wonderful set-pieces such as the mansion of Orlac's father, the train wreck, and Orlac's piano room. Fans of NOSFERATU will definitely want to take a look here.

This silent film is good, but slow moving. The print quality (very dark) is fair to good, but my biggest complaint is that it is running at the wrong speed: too fast! (Why the labs do this on most silent films is beyond me!) I was not impressed with the music(?) score. It sounded sometimes as though the band was tuning up. It occasionally fit the mood of the film, but not often. But while the film moves somewhat slowly, the finale is worth the wait. I do recommend it, but with the reservations I noted above.

Robert Wiene's 1924 film, The Hands of Orlac is the first of several film adaptations of Maurice Renard's story of a concert pianist who hands are amputated and replaced with the hands of a murderer. Of the remakes, the most notable is unquestionably Karl Freund's 1935 Mad Love with an all star 30's cast of Peter Lorre, Colin Clive, Francis Drake, and Ted Healy. Freund's cinematographer, Gregg Toland, also filmed Citizen Kane (1940) and critic Pauline Kael famously noted the considerable visual influence Freund's film had on Welles. Peter Lorre also starred yet another version of the story, The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) which allegedly was (anonymously) written by Luis Buñuel (doubtful) and Curt Siodmak (much more likely) and directed by Robert Florey.

Mad Love shifted the primary focus from cursed hands to mad scientists and unrequited love. While that film has its admirers, it is not an example of Expressionist film. As compared to its counterpoints in painting and in music, Expressionism really only existed in the art form of silent film. The Hands of Orlac conjures up the hands of Expressionist painter Egon Schiele and composer Arnold Schoenberg.

Conrad Veidt`s performance can only be described as expressed inner rhythm. His acting, like the greatest of silent actors, is a visceral dance. Later, Veidt proved to be as naturalistic an actor as Hollywood required (i.e, his next to last role as the Nazi Major Strasser in Casablanca, ironically, one of several Nazi roles played by the staunchly anti-Nazi actor who had been targeted for assassination in Hitler's Germany); still, Veidt is, justifiably, remembered for his earlier, eminently stylized acting. His Orlac is almost the text book essence of Weimar Cinema (even if it was an Austrian production) and justifies the actor's claim that "I never got Caligari out of my system." The hallucinatory fever billows in the veins of the actor's brow.

Alexandra Sorina's performance is a suitable match to her co-star and their scenes together are, often, erotic, but in a way one might find eroticism in a canvas of Emil Nolde. Wiene's style is far more subdued here than in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). The exaggerated sets echo Orlac's distorted vision and the film itself is ominously paced like a somnambulist walk.

* my review originally appeared at 366 Weird Movies

Veidt makes this movie. He always amazed me how personal a connection he makes in his roles, silent or talking. I am always so drawn into his characters whereas others in similar roles leave me unfeeling. He works his magic here so well you hardly need the intertitles. His expression of helpless torment is incredible. I much prefer this version to the later Mad Love that destroyed most of the wonderful plot.