The Hands of Orlac (1928)

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

This is not a great movie, I admit. Certainly the acting is bizarre (though often moving) and the rhythm takes getting used to. But I thought I would put in a good word based on a recent viewing experience. I am not rating it high but I really enjoyed it a lot.6 or 7 years ago I went on a Conrad Veidt spree and bought copies of some his silents from an ebay seller/devotee. The quality varied and I recall that he particularly apologized for this item, which was barely viewable. All you could really see was Veidt's face... The other night TCM showed the Kino restoration and I sat down to see the film "for real." It was a pleasure to be able to take in the wonderful decors and costumes, and to get a relatively coherent version of the plot. The train wreck scene is stirring. And Veidt's face, again, as he progresses from sensitive soul to tormented monstrosity... In short, it was very rewarding.

I've been looking for a DVD of THE HANDS OF ORLAC ever since I knew the film existed. Now it's finally here, and like most silent films it's a mixed bag. I find the image on the new KINO disc to be acceptable considering the problematic nature of the source material. There's a loss of definition in some scenes, but there are also moments of sharpness in the restored Murnau Foundation print. It's a shame we can never experience non-talking films the way 1920s audiences did, without washed-out contrasts, image-flickers, frame-jitters, dirt, and print damage. Even the best restorations don't look new.The plot concerns a concert pianist whose hands are smashed in a train wreck. A surgeon replaces them with the hands an executed criminal. Soon the pianist is obsessed with thoughts he might be a killer. The performances are generally excellent in the Expressionistic style. Conrad Veidt's exaggerated grimacing as his character Paul Orlac approaches madness is tempered by moments that are extremely moving.The score of mostly string music on the KINO disc is creepy and works well for a while, but is so monotonous over the entire length of an already ponderously paced film that I grew tired of it. This film cries out for music that varies its mood to fit what is happening on screen. Contrasts in the mood of the music would make the creepy parts seem even creepier. An optional score in a traditional style would have been nice. Nevertheless, the Gothic set design and shadow-infested cinematography by Gunther Krampf - particularly the scenes at Orlac's father's house - create the atmosphere we know and love in early horror films. These chiaroscuro light-and-shadow effects just cannot be achieved with color.However, to evoke fear without the modern cheats of gore and violence - to create what the Germans call "stimmung" (mood) - requires not only imaginative lighting and set design, but time. Unfortunately director Robert Weine spends too much time on the actors' very deliberate expressionistic movements at the expense of pacing.The ending is likewise unsatisfactory, although it does follow Maurice Renard's novel. I won't give too much away other than to say the ending undercuts an apparently fantastic element, yet makes the "logical" explanation seem almost as implausible. Nevertheless, the build-up to the resolution as well as Veidt's engrossing performance makes this a worthwhile, if uninspired, film.

Ah, what aristocratic days are these!!... These modern times of the new 21st century have many similarities to the old youthful times that Herr Graf spent in Deutschland at the beginning of the ancient 20th century; that is to say, during those days the world had a tremendous financial crisis not to mention the menace of a world flu pandemic. It seemed appropriate then that Herr Von decided to revisit those memories by watching at the Schloss theatre a strange, oppressive film, a picture that reflected those times and the aristocratic mood. A perfect soirée, indeed!... The film was "Orlacs Hände" (1924) by Herr Robert Wiene.It was a pleasure ( you have to know that German aristocrats have fun in a different and dark way .. ) to watch again such a classic Expressionist masterpiece. Thanks are owed to the longhaired youngsters at Kino who did an excellent restoration of this old nitrate which includes a bearable music score by Herr Paul Mercer that helps one to suppress the memory of the terrible score that was included some time ago in another release of the film; that music was scarier than the film itself. Even today, to watch "Orlacs Hände" is a disturbing experience aside from appreciating its Expressionist values. Early in the film, the train crash sequence is full of dark and impressive shots that capture the confusion, warning the audience that this is a special oeuvre. It bespeaks a terrible chaos, uncertainty and darkness that engulfs the viewer in an oppressive, tormented atmosphere.Due to the train crash, Herr Orlac ( Herr Conrad Veidt ) our hero will suffer horrible wounds to body and soul. The physical scars heal up but the psychological wounds are more difficult to overcome, especially when Herr Orlac discovers that his new hands belonged to an assassin. This marks the beginning of a terrible "tour de force" between body and soul that will torment Herr Orlac throughout the film. His fragility is challenged by pain and suffering and though solace and calm ultimately prevail he must first face constant uncertainty, delirium and the threat of insanity.The Expressionist shadows, appropriately enough, surround the main characters ( The performances by the great Herr Veidt and Dame Alexandra Sorina are also in the Expressionist manner ) and their habitats; their home, at the hospital, and in the streets. An oppressive, morbid, gloomy atmosphere prevails and suits perfectly a story of wicked impulses and disturbed minds.Hands demanding crimes, the weakness of the human will, blackmail from an unscrupulous criminal, a medical experiment, a father who hates his son… such are the subjects in "Orlacs Hände", an unnerving masterpiece and the perfect aristocratic silent film choice for a cloudy soirée in these 21st uncertain times.And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must lend a hand in this time of crisis by drinking only a glass of Rhine white wine instead of the whole bottle.Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/

I'm glad I had this chance to check out yet another German Expressionist classic – even if I had to make do with faint Spanish subtitles over the original German intertitles (then again, the narrative is easy enough to follow)! It took me some time to warm up to the film: the pace is extremely sluggish (the aftermath of the train-wreck at the beginning seemed interminable), while the all-important decision to exchange the damaged hands of famed concert pianist Orlac with those of a murderer felt too abrupt.In preparation for this review, I re-read Michael Elliott's comments on the film: while I generally concur with his opinion, at this stage I wouldn't put this above the 1935 Karl Freund/Peter Lorre/Colin Clive remake MAD LOVE (Ted Healy's intrusive comedy relief, to me, is just about the only negative element in that film – while adding Dr. Gogol's obsessive yearning for Orlac's wife, hence the new title). Still, I was surprised by how much the later film actually followed the Silent version – especially the two scenes in which Orlac meets the 'executed' murderer – of the Maurice Renard story; another remake appeared in 1960, co-starring Christopher Lee and which I watched on Italian TV not too long ago but already can hardly remember anything about it! Conrad Veidt's lanky figure and stylized approach to acting perfectly suited the requirements of the leading role (his posture generally echoing that of Cesare the Somnambulist in the same director's THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI [1919]); the expressionist sets were also notable but the film's style is generally an internalized one in that it deals primarily with Orlac's state of mind filming him in tight shots whenever possible. However, the avant-garde score which accompanied the Grapevine Video edition I watched was a matter of taste – featuring a female vocalist who frequently attempted to simulate the various characters' emotions with an annoying array of wails, shrieks and faint whispers! It's unfortunate, too, that the backlog I have of unwatched films on DVD doesn't permit me to check out the Kino edition of CALIGARI for the moment – especially since it contains a lengthy condensed version of another intriguing Wiene title, GENUINE: A TALE OF A VAMPIRE (1920)