Year: 1923
Director: Arthur Robison
Country: Germany
Language: N/A
When discussing silent German Cinema usually the names Fritz Lang & F.W Murnau come to mind first. German-American director Arthur Robison is nowhere near as famous as those two (his Wikipedia page contains just two sentences on the man) but he has two remarkable classics under his belt. Though he made 20 pictures between 1916 and 1935, the greatest of these are The Informer (1929) and Warning Shadows (1923).
A wealthy man (Alexander Granach) invites the local wealthy bachelors over for a puppet show about men who covet another man's wife. The puppeteer is actually a witch and gives the men nightmares about what could happen if they date the lady of the house.
The film is of interest to silent movie buffs because it is one of the few pictures without inter-titles. The story is entirely visual, letting the camera tell the story rather than an abundance of title cards (some films at the time used hundreds!) The emotions here are universal; it's about a man who is extremely jealous of his wife. The shadows in the film play tricks on him to drive him mad. They show an illusion; that his wife and his friend are making love, when in reality they could be several feet apart.
Shadows and reflections are portrayed as both deceivers and truth-tellers. Reality and the perception of reality dance back and forth with neither the audience nor the characters ever being completely sure what is real. Paranoia, and the fantasies brought about by the condition, turn out to be true- until they aren't. Its layout and design is ingenious.
Cinematographer Fritz Arno Wagner proves he is a master of his craft with Warning Shadows. He creates a stylized, moody and atmospheric shadow play that is unmatched in the history of silent cinema. The remarkable eighteenth century costuming certainly adds to this film's fairy tale-like quality. Overall Robison's picture is a must see.
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