ironhorse_iv Review of The Hands of Orlac

The Hands of Orlac (1924)

I give them a hand! The Hand of Orlac is pretty creepy. Hands down an excellent film

[7/10 · 28 March 2014]

There is nothing creepier than watching a 1924 German Expressionist silent film. While, this movie didn't had those wildly non-realistic, geometrically absurd sets. We did get those designs motifs painted on walls and floors to represent lights, shadows, and objects. It doesn't have gore, or much violent, it deals with the "stimmung" type mood of madness, insanity, and betrayal. Directed by Robert Wiene of 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' fame, the movie follows the plot of the story, 'Les Mains d'Orlac' by Maurice Renard. The film was one of the first film to feature, hands having a will of their own, whether if it's attached to the body or not. Such fear, came from the ignorance by the public on the then-new subject of surgical transplants. I love how the film is shot. There's a constant intercutting between close-and medium-shots to extreme long shots of these excessively large rooms, with large expanses of empty space. It's a metaphor of the main character's existential distress and then a giant hand coming out to reach him. The hand dreams are pretty scary even with today's standards. The movie is about a gifted Concert pianist, Paul Orlac (Conrad Veidt) whom on his way to visit his wife, Yvonne (Alexandra Sorina) lose his hands in a horrible train crash. His wife Yvonne pleads with the surgeon to try and save Orlac's hands. Instead, the surgeon decides to transplant new hands onto Orlac. Orlac recovers from the crash, only to find out that he is unable to play the piano. Not only that, but Orlac starts to be tortured by memories of a recent murder in the community. He finds himself, going mad, whenever he is in the presence of a knife. Such a presence, has cause him to want to kill and cause violence. He starts to believe that the hands, he got are the hands of a murderer and he has to find a way to stop it. I think without a lot of make up or any real special effects. For a silent film star, Veidt is great in this with his body language. Some scenes might seem a bit over acting, but for the most part, Veidt manages to make the film into an intense thriller. The movie makes you think, if it's all in his head, or is he really killing people? As humans, we've always been fascinated superstitiously by the way our own bodies work and where our own consciousness lies. The movie borderlines the themes of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The movie also reminds me of Faust. This movie was often remade. The most famous version is 1935's Mad Love. Other films, follow are 1962's Hands of a Stranger, 1946's The Beast with Five Fingers, and 2012's Les Mains de Roxana. It also loosely adapted in Oliver Stone's 1981's The Hand. It also seem to appear in the Futurama season four finale episode 18th, 'The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings'. The movie is a bit rare, so finding it, might be a challenge. The movie is in the public domain, so there is a lot of DVD versions to choose upon. Depending what version, you find depends on how good the film preservation, or film restoration. Surprising, the movie copy version, I watch was pretty good. It had little scratches, decay, dirt, or film grain. That doesn't mean that your version will be as good as mine. Some version had the original film cut to some extent by the German government at the time, then Nazis later on, due to censoring as they felt that it endanger public safety and order. They thought it could be used as a tool for criminals because it show a realistic method of forging fingerprints. While, the movie was made before there was a rating system, there was age limit for people to see this film. I think it's less about the frighten horrors, and more on what the hands represented. There is a sexual motif that get established right at the start with how Orlac's wife would be touch by his hands. The original German inter-titles have an even more erotic tone to it. The hands represent the sex life between husband and wife in the film symbolism. In 1996, the film was re-evaluated and released, with PG or PG-13 age limit rating. In my opinion, it's might frighten little children if watch. The original version is about 92 minutes long, while the reconstructed version is 90 minutes. The restored version with all the cut scenes is 113 min. So make sure, you're getting the full version. Some versions had newly inserted music scores by Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, Henning Lohner, Paul Mercer, Donald Sosin, Dennis James or others. Background noises might be missing in some version. Make sure, you can hear the sound effects during the interrogation scene. The version, I had also had English sub-titles. Many of the versions are sadly, just in German or in some other European language. In no way, should you ever watch a color version. Its takes away the German Expressionist feel to film. You would never notice the shadow-infested cinematography by Gunther Krampf particularly the scenes at Orlac's father's house. I love the use of Chiaroscuro using a stark contrast between dark and light in an image, usually for dramatic effect in some scene. You would deeply be sadly if you watch it in color. The Kino version is one of the better video transfer from the source material, so check that out if you want. You can also find the film on Youtube. The ending is mixed feelings, although it does follow Maurice Renard's novel, it's not the best. Another fault of the film would be its pacing. Overall: A great watch. You got to get your hand on this.