Michael (1924)

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Movie
Original title Michael
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1924
length 90 minutes
Rod
Director Carl Theodor Dreyer
script Thea von Harbou , Carl Theodor Dreyer
production Erich Pommer for UFA, Dept. Decla-Bioskop
camera Karl Freund , Rudolph Maté
occupation

Michael is a German feature film by Carl Theodor Dreyer from 1924. It was based on the 1904 novel by Herman Bang of the same name .

action

The painter Claude Zoret feels emotionally connected to his model Eugène Michael, whom he has also adopted as a foster son. Michael is his artistic inspiration, at the same time he gives him everything that Michael needs. During a dinner at Zoret's, Duke Monthieu, the befriended couple Adelskjold and the critic Switt are guests next to Michael. Zoret tells them that he wants to paint a picture of Brutus' murder of Caesar; he looks at Michael. The Duke shows his affection for Alice Adelskjold.

The impoverished Princess Zanikow wants to have a portrait painted of herself. Zoret can finally be persuaded to do so. Michael is taken with her and enters into a relationship with her. He finances the expensive lifestyle by selling pictures and other objects by Zoret. The latter covered him up for Switt, who advised him to separate from Michael, and even bought back a picture he had given Michael and offered for sale by the art dealer Leblanc.

Michael's open admission that he was fed up with serving as a model does not change Zoret's unbroken affection for Michael. The duke is killed in a duel by Adelskjold after he learned of the duke's liaison with his wife.

In a vernissage, Zoret presents his latest picture of Job - a person who has lost everything . Those present praised him as the “painter of pain”.

On his deathbed, Zoret gives all of his possessions to Michael. He does not think it necessary to appear there and prefers to have fun with Princess Zanikow. Zoret dies saying "Now I can die in peace, because I have seen a great love".

literature

  • Klaus Lippert Michael . In Günther Dahlke, Günther Karl (Hrsg.): German feature films from the beginnings to 1933. A film guide. Henschel Verlag, 2nd edition, Berlin 1993, p. 102 ff. ISBN 3-89487-009-5

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