The Last Judgment (1916)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Last Judgement |
| Original title | Verdens undergang |
| Country of production | Denmark |
| original language | Danish |
| Publishing year | 1916 |
| length | 77 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | August Blom |
| script | Otto Rung |
| production | Ole Olsen for Nordisk Film , Copenhagen |
| camera | Louis Larsen |
| occupation | |
| |
The Last Judgment (OT: Verdens undergang ) is a Danish silent film from 1916 by August Blom , one of the earliest disaster and science fiction films in cinema history.
action
The film begins with the fact that one day a traveling priest comes to a small mining town. The mine owner Frank Stoll rules there and gives the people wages and bread. His caretaker West has two daughters, the blonde Edith and the brunette Dina. The latter is engaged to the miner Flint, while Edith has a childhood friendship with the seaman Reymers. Dina, who dreams of a life of wealth, is very impressed by Stoll's advances. He persuades her to go on with him in secret. When both want to leave the desolate mine one day, they can no longer prevent Flint, who secretly creeps after Dina and who at the last moment tries to prevent Stoll from "robbing" his fiancée. The couple escape in a single horse-drawn carriage, an angry cursing Flint remains behind.
Years later, Stoll achieved considerable wealth through speculation on the stock exchange. His marriage to Edith is happy. At the same time, the astronomer Prof. Wisemann, a cousin of Stoll's, observes the universe. He discovered a new comet with his telescope. According to his calculations, this celestial body could enter the earth's atmosphere and thus become an existential danger for the blue planet. Wisemann decides to share this knowledge with the President of the Astronomical Society. Headlines that conjure up the end of the world will soon cause great unrest. The share prices plunge into the abyss. But Stoll senses the big profit and buys everything in shares that he can buy. Then he announced that he would travel again to the mining town, his wife's old home, because of urgent business. He wants his wife Dina to accompany him. She is not particularly happy to see her old homeland again, but promises her husband to come along.
The news of the danger from outer space has also reached the small town, but initially the excitement is limited. Meanwhile, Stoll has positioned himself in front of the conference room of the Astronomical Society to intercept his cousin. He should keep him up to date on the latest findings so that he can align his business accordingly. When his cousin tells him that the comet will actually penetrate the earth's atmosphere, he persuades his friend, the editor-in-chief of a large daily newspaper, to publish exactly the opposite of it. After all, nothing should endanger his business. People are reassured and stock prices are skyrocketing again. Stoll can sell all his cheaply acquired papers for a decent profit. Then Frank and Dina Stoll finally travel back to the mining town while Edith's childhood friend Reymers is hired on a ship again.
In the mining town, Flint, Dinas Ex, calls for a rebellion against Stoll because, he says, he stole his girl from him. The reception committee for those returning home is similar. Flint's men are already making rabatz at the Stoll car that is driving up, and Dina's father rushes out to curse his own daughter. He becomes faint from excitement. On the one hand, Stoll explores his own tunnel system in order to find a safe place for himself and his wife in the event of a comet impact. On the other hand, he makes fun of the hysteria by arranging a big doomsday party for the presumed judgment day, September 20th. While Stolls sause rises, the first glowing boulders hiss down to the earth. Lightning and ash dust falls on the place. Flint and his roommates then plan to get what they think was stolen from the rich. Armed with miners' axes and rifles, they storm the Stoll villa. The situation is threatening to get out of hand.
The party is interrupted in the midst of a dance performance when the angry miners smash the door to the ballroom with their rifle butts. Then there is a wild shooting. Stoll and his wounded wife escape through a secret passage into the mine shaft, followed by Flint. Meanwhile, the houses of the miners, but also Wisemann's observatory, drowned in the rain of flames and rocks. There is smoke and fire everywhere, there is sheer panic. Dina dies in the mine shaft in Stoll's arms. Flint also dies a painful death from the gas flowing into the shaft. Then Stoll dies too. The sea level rises, huge waves crash over the ocean. Reymers and his people shipwreck; but he can save himself in a dinghy. The floods also flood the coastal mining town and flood the houses. Edith can save herself on the roof of her house, from where she is picked up by the itinerant preacher with his rowing boat. In a cave, both find shelter for the time being. Then Edith goes looking for survivors. She finds an only slightly damaged coastal church and rings its bell. The stranded Reymers hears them and walks up to them. They both fall into each other's arms and then on their knees praying, their gaze directed towards the sky.
Production notes
The Last Judgment was filmed in 1915 and premiered in Copenhagen on March 28, 1916. The German premiere of the film probably took place during or immediately after the First World War .
The film was made under the impression of two world events, one only a few years ago - Halley's Comet , which passed within sight of the earth in 1910 - and one current one: the First World War, the raging and destruction of which left a strong impression even in Denmark, which had remained neutral.
For lead actor Olaf Fønss , this was the last film for Nordisk , which he left in October 1915. "Fønss, together with other actors, including Valdemar Psilander , instigated a downright riot against Ole Olsen's head of administration, Alfred Staehr." A few months later, he accepted an offer from Germany and played there again in a groundbreaking science fiction film, Homunculus .
Axel Bruun designed the film structures.
The film with a length of 1650 meters was restored by the Danish Film Institute in 2005 and released on DVD in the following year at 17 frames per second and a playing time of 77 minutes together with the film The Sky Ship with Danish and English subtitles .
criticism
“Black dream and white slave” called the film “visionary” for short.
Web links
- The Last Judgment in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Verdens undergang on danskefilm.dk
- Verdens undergang at Det Danske Film Institute
- Verdens undergang (film)