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Special Features
- B&W with color tints
Editorial Reviews
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There's no more archetypal German Expressionist film title than Warning Shadows, and this gem of a movie lives up to its name in a variety of ways. It was based on an idea by Albin Grau, who wasn't a writer but had just earned a permanent place of honor in film history as the art director and costume designer of F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, functions he also performs here. Except for the deliberately artificial opening, when all the characters and players are identified--in a setup that simultaneously suggests a stage proscenium and a motion picture screen--there's not a single title card. A stunningly imaginative and visually adventurous creation, the movie rivets the eye, beguiles the mind, and delivers several genuinely amazing twists and surprises--the best of them deriving from the audience's willing complicity as voyeurs of light-and-shadow plays on a two-dimensional screen. Add that the film is a virtual who's-who of German screen actors, and you've got a major candidate for delighted rediscovery.
The action takes place within a single night, when a handful of guests assemble for a dinner party at the home of a well-to-do couple. Most of the men dream of seducing the wife (Ruth Weyher)--and for her part she often seems perilously close to falling out of her gown! The husband is played by Fritz Kortner, a thick-set, beetle-browed man who was the Expressionist actor par excellence, using his massive head, body, arms, and volcanically changeable stance to architecturally rearrange the very dynamics of the motion picture frame. The husband's inveterate suspicions of everybody within range are intensified by the devilish intervention of a strolling showman (Alexander Granach, Nosferatu's Renfield), who crashes the party and initiates an extravagant lightshow.
The film's director, the American-born Arthur Robison, appears to have encouraged a more antic mood among the players than we expect from the grim German cinema of the '20s. Not that that diminishes the dark psychological and metaphysical undercurrents of the film, or trivializes the experience. The Murnau Institute's restoration relied principally on a clear, handsomely tinted original print deposited with the Cinémathèque Française and a good print of the American release version archived at the Museum of Modern Art. Barring only a few brief passages, the restoration looks very, very good--and the film looks great. --Richard T. Jameson
Product Description
WARNING SHADOWS - DVD Movie
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great example of German Expressionist Film,
By Barbara (Burkowsky) Underwood (Tumut, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Warning Shadows - A Nocturnal Hallucination (DVD)
The full title of this German 1923 silent classic is "Warning Shadows: A Nocturnal Hallucination" and what better subject for an experimental Expressionist film than a play with light and shadows which cause intense emotions and confusion in the characters involved! The 1920s saw some revolutions in cinema style and technique, and German Expressionism was at the forefront with its artistic and surreal style, using light and shadow extensively and even attempting to eliminate intertitles completely. "Warning Shadows" still stands as one of the success stories of this unique genre, but it might take a little getting used to for those not well acquainted with the style. For a start, the lack of intertitles might seem intimidating at first, but once you get used to the slow and deliberate movements and expressions of the characters, it's possible to follow the characters' thoughts, actions and motives without the usual explanatory intertitles. The highlight of "Warning Shadows" however is its extensive use of shadows which create illusion, and it was so well done that it's still fascinating and impressive to see over 80 years later. The plot is quite simple and obvious for the most part: a husband is jealous of the attention his attractive wife enjoys receiving from several admirers, and tensions reach a climax during a dinner party. A mysterious character - a magician and illusionist who performs a shadow play at the dinner party - causes a hallucination or vision which prophetically shows the tragic outcome of the wife's flirting and the husband's jealous rage; hence the `warning'. It may be difficult at first to discern where reality ends and the hallucination begins, but I found that after more than one viewing I could appreciate and enjoy this unusual film much more. I also found the musical score of mainly piano quite suitable to the mood and unreal ambience, and when the film ends at morning light in the story, it feels like an awakening from a strange vision or hallucination for the viewer as well, which no doubt is proof of the effectiveness and success of "Warning Shadows". It definitely belongs in any collection of German Expressionist film (or perhaps a collection of odd, unique, rare films) and for anyone keen to adventure beyond the normal realms of standard cinema.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
And Now For Something Completely Different.,
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Warning Shadows - A Nocturnal Hallucination (DVD)
That phrase so closely associated with Monty Python makes for an apt description of this legendary 1922 German silent film which has been unavailable in America for many years. Made the same year as F.W. Murnau's NOSFERATU and featuring many of the same performers, WARNING SHADOWS is like a combination of it and THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. It also predates Murnau's THE LAST LAUGH as a silent film without intertitles by a few years. The plot which concerns a mysterious stranger showing various people their potential futures (an idea Gloria Swanson would later use in THE LOVE OF SUNYA) is of secondary importance to the astonishing visuals created by the incredible use of light and shadows as well as closeups (remember there are no title cards) to tell the story of a Count who suspects his wife of infidelity. This DVD version is taken from a composite print made of materials from France and America. It's rather beat up in places (and so 4 stars instead of 5) but is leagues ahead of an old public domain VHS issued by Video Yesteryear several years ago. The color tints though effective are a trifle overdone but not to the detriment of the film and it's a problem that can be easily corrected. Donald Sosin's background score complements the action but is a bit underpowered for my taste. If you are at all into German silent cinema then WARNING SHADOWS is a must have. Early horror film aficionados will also revel in its grotesque imagery. Thanks to Kino and all the restorers involved in bringing this unique, influential film back to life and making it available on home video for lovers of silent film like myself..
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Expressionist masterpiece,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Warning Shadows - A Nocturnal Hallucination (DVD)
Why is this 1923 German film so obscure? I don't recall ever hearing of "Warning Shadows" until I ran across it here on amazon last week. It sounded sufficiently interesting, and although there is very little information on the movie anywhere, it was an impulse purchase. And a good one. This is one of the most fascinating and sexually-charged examples of early world cinema that I've come across. The plot isn't anything spectacular, but as an expressionist piece an intricate plot isn't necessary; there are no title cards, but they aren't necessary, either. The camerawork, the direction and the pacing are nothing short of great, and the acting (while still rooted in the overemote school for the most part) is perfect. "Warning Shadows" has a solid, direct appeal and is more "living" as art than, dare I say it, "Nosferatu". Really.
Highly recommended for all silent film buffs. This is quite a treasure.
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