The mysterious wanderer

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Movie
Original title The mysterious wanderer
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1915
length approx. 56 minutes
Rod
Director William Wauer
script Robert Reinert
production Paul Davidson for PAGU
camera Axel Graatkjaer
occupation

The Mysterious Wanderer is a mystical, German silent film drama from 1915 by William Wauer with Theodor Loos in the title role.

action

Count Agaston returns to his castle after a long absence and was happily welcomed by his wife Magdalena. During his absence, the young gardener Johannes showed himself to be particularly persistent, if not intrusive, in his endeavors to gain the favor of the countess. When the count couple is on a falconry hunt, their little son Roberto is unobserved for a moment. He romps around and falls into a nearby lake. A mysterious wanderer who has roamed the area for some time and preaches love and mercy is there at the right moment and saves the little one from drowning. When the parents return home, he gives them the son. The count declares that he is deeply indebted to him and that the wanderer may wish for whatever he may. But this is modest and asks for nothing other than shelter for the coming night. Then he goes to the castle chapel to pray and contemplate.

The modesty and his in-self-rest radiated an enormous impression on Countess Magdalena, that out of a mixture of gratitude and admiration she fell at his feet and covered his hands with kisses. He blesses the woman and leaves the chapel. Magdalena is so fanatical in her desire for what she believes to be "saints" that she now rejects her own husband when he tries to approach her in the bedchamber. Magdalena starts a second attempt at the stranger and throws herself at his feet again. This time she is overheard by the rejected gardener boy Johannes, who immediately runs to the count to rub the events under his nose with warmth. The count is seething with jealousy and sprints to the guest's room to stab the presumed rival. Magdalena is able to prevent the first attack, but when the stranger turns his back on the count, he stabs him with a knife. It then collapses silently.

Horrified by his own actions, Count Johannes orders the bleeding corpse of the man he murdered to be dumped in the lake. The gardener keeps the blood-stained coat in his room. The count assures his wife that he did not want this and tries to wash away the blood stains on the steps. However, no matter how hard he scrubs, the stains simply cannot be removed. Magdalena fetches a rug and puts it over the stains. While Johannes now, thanks to his knowledge and evidence, has the Count in his hand, the Count's couple is plagued by ever increasing feelings of guilt. But all guilt takes revenge on earth: Roberto falls over the carpet laid by his mother and breaks his neck in the process. Torn by the pain of loss, the parents now plan to put an end to their earthly existence and drown themselves in the lake.

Suddenly her child in the white shroud approaches from the bank, the hiker as his escort by his hand. The Count and Countess stretch out their hands in disbelief to receive the "resurrected" son. While they hold their child tightly in their arms, the figure of the mysterious wanderer disappears like a cloud of fog. Back in the castle, Johannes faces them menacingly on the stairs and presents them with the blood-stained coat he has kept as proof of his potential for blackmail. But behind him the light of the wanderer reappears and pulls the carpet away from the bloodstain. And lo and behold: the stain has disappeared as if by magic. Then the wanderer disappears forever before the eyes of the parents he has redeemed.

Production notes

The mysterious Wanderer was created under the working title The Unheimliche Fremde in July 1915 Union-Atelier in Berlin-Tempelhof and in Hildesheim (exterior shots). Neither the date of its censorship nor that of the premiere is known. A review in the Austrian journal Kinematographische Rundschau in November 1915 suggests that the film was first shown towards the end of 1915. The length of the three-act film was about 1150 meters.

The mysterious wanderer was one of the first German films with partly real night shots (the so-called torch effect).

criticism

“A film of dramatic power and picturesque beauty. The mysterious plot, which takes place in the romantic age of chivalry, seems very singularly sacred. Particularly moving ... is the third act in which the guilty parents find redemption and liberation from their torments of conscience through the appearance of their child, believed dead, whom the mysterious wanderer has brought back to life in tireless mercy. The way in which all of this is staged shows the profound understanding of the director Wauer, who has masterfully captured the innermost core of the plot. (...) The scene when the hiker leads the child to the parents walking on the water and the scene in the castle chapel are probably among the most beautiful that the cinema industry has achieved so far. "

- Cinematographic review of November 7, 1915. p. 10

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