I was interested in the Romanian actor and director Lupu Pick, so with difficulty I obtained a rare video of this film which, however, had no dialogue titles apart from a single one, so that it was not at all easy to follow the story in any detail. There were section titles identifying the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth days (in German), but they were no substitute for knowing the dialogue! The film was both written and directed by Pick, and he appears as an actor in the film as 'the Traveller'. The lead female is played by Pick's wife, Edith Posca. She was German, and acted in a total of 18 films, commencing in 1917, but she died in the summer of 1931 aged only 38, in Berlin. I have no idea why she died so young, unless it was from grief or suicide because her husband Pick had died three and a half months earlier, aged 45. Edith had retired from the screen in 1924 at the age of 31, so perhaps she had bad health. She had started her life in the entertainment world as a singer of operetta in Hamburg, when she was 19. Pick was a Romanian who was born in Iasi (Jassy). He directed 32 films, of which this was his 18th. He appeared as an actor in 50 films, commencing in 1910 in Germany. Most of these films appear to be permanently lost. The last film in which he appeared as an actor was Fritz Lang's SPIONE (SPIES, 1928), which exists in a remastered form and is available on a commercial DVD. In it, Pick plays Doctor Masimoto/Matsumoto. In 1929, Pick directed NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA, which survives. It was written by the great director Abel Gance and Willy Hass (the close friend of Franz Werfel who appears as a character in Werfel's final novel, STAR OF THE UNBORN). The title of this film, SCHERBEN does not really mean 'Shattered' as conventionally translated, but refers to people going to pieces, as both the father and the daughter do in this story. The father is a railway signalman, known as a Flagman. Pick has some good travelling shots looking down on him from behind as he follows him along the railway tracks on various occasions. Having a Flagman as the lead character in a story was an idea which Pick derived from what is perhaps the most famous novella in 20th century German literature, Gerhart Hauptmann's heart-rending story, FLAGMAN THIEL. In Pick's film the Flagman is played with stoic simplicity and considerable power by Werner Krauss. (He was to reappear as Napoleon in Pick's NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA.) The Flagman's daughter is played by Edith Posca, with the incredibly dark eye makeup fashionable in silent films of that epoch. She manages some powerful and wild emotions, but refrains from excessive melodrama. In the early stages of the film one thinks she is a very pathetic, vacillating and weak person, but when pushed to the edge, she becomes a desperate woman who is capable of anything as she has nothing left to lose. It is a remarkable transition and shows a very broad acting range on behalf of Posca. A railway inspector comes to the small house of the Flagman and has to be put up there. He is played as a vain and heartless cad by Paul Otto (who died in the middle of the War in Berlin after appearing in 147 films). Otto seduces Posca, whose parents discover the fact and he merely scoffs at them. The Flagman's wife is in such despair at her daughter's loss of virtue that she goes and prays at a roadside shrine of the Virgin Mary in the heavy snow, weeping and desperate, where she freezes to death. The railway inspector could not care less. Posca confronts him and says that by bringing shame on her, he has caused the death of her mother and he must marry her, but he scorns her and sneers at her. She therefore decides in a frenzy that he must die. She enrages her father at what she clearly tells him was a violent rape, and he goes to the inspector's room and strangles him to death with his bare hands. Stunned at what he has done, he takes his signal lamp and stands by the tracks in the snow and swings it to and fro like a man in a trance, bringing an express to a halt. We have lots of shots of indolent passengers gorging on their food in a rather ornate dining car, which is all very interesting for passionate railway history buffs to see. The engineers of the train get down to see what is wrong with the Flagman, and in the only surviving dialogue card, he says (in German of course): 'I am a murderer!' and stares forlornly and in disbelief into empty space. This is not the end, as we still have the daughter's fate to come. Lupu Pick was obviously interested in desperate, powerful, and destructive human emotions, in people in the most extreme situations, of, frankly, 'people going to pieces' or becoming 'scherben'. It is a very grim story indeed, and a total 'downer'. One could say that it carries tragedy too far, because it is so unremitting and uncompromising, without any compensating light touches or moments to pause from all the tragic events that are going on and draw breath. Pick makes good use of telling close-ups, but apart from the shots along the tracks, he shows no inclination to move his camera, and I would not call his direction particularly inspired. Once in a while he frames an excellent dramatic shot, such as the daughter sitting on a railway bridge, but the film lacks truly convincing inner creative dynamism and seems rather over-wrought, as if Pick and his actors were all trying too hard to convince us of the tragedies.
4 Reviews
The First "Kammerspiele"
FerdinandVonGalitzien12 October 2012
"Scherben" ( Shattered ) (1921) is the most well-known and celebrated film directed by Herr Lupu Pick, a film director who was Romanian by birth but German by adoption. This movie is considered to be the first "Kammerspiele", or, in the Shakespearian language, a story set in closed spaces, a kind of intimate film theater wherein ordinary lives are depicted in detail, placing special emphasis on psychological aspects of the characters and their particular circumstances.
As an excellent example of "Kammerspiele", "Scherben" meets all these requirements from its very beginning; for example, the way that Herr Pick shows the daily life of a railway signalman and his family, a wife and a daughter. It's a monotonous existence for all of them and one that will be broken into pieces once a railway inspector comes unexpectedly into their tranquil lives.
The drama and the suffering of the characters are depicted in a theatrical way but with cinematic means as well. Herr Pick uses close-ups efficiently to focus on the shattered lives of the characters and the setting, an isolated spot in the snowy mountains, adds to the psychological impact of the story and creates an atmosphere of claustrophobia.
Whenever " Kammerspiele" films are discussed there is always controversy about whether these films were essential precursors of Expressionism or if they contain implicit elements of that movement. To this German count such artistic film styles cannot be separated as can be seen in "Scherben"; there are aspects that probably will be developed later in the most celebrated Expressionist films, but the primordial film style of Expressionism was already implicit in "Kammerspiele" although in a kind of primitive way.
"Scherben" as a pioneer "Kammerspiele", that is to say, an avant-garde film, demonstrates the quintessential German concern about specific artistic intentions and style; such purposes which finally would give the German silent films praise around the world whatever the film genre.
And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must catch a train.
Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com
As an excellent example of "Kammerspiele", "Scherben" meets all these requirements from its very beginning; for example, the way that Herr Pick shows the daily life of a railway signalman and his family, a wife and a daughter. It's a monotonous existence for all of them and one that will be broken into pieces once a railway inspector comes unexpectedly into their tranquil lives.
The drama and the suffering of the characters are depicted in a theatrical way but with cinematic means as well. Herr Pick uses close-ups efficiently to focus on the shattered lives of the characters and the setting, an isolated spot in the snowy mountains, adds to the psychological impact of the story and creates an atmosphere of claustrophobia.
Whenever " Kammerspiele" films are discussed there is always controversy about whether these films were essential precursors of Expressionism or if they contain implicit elements of that movement. To this German count such artistic film styles cannot be separated as can be seen in "Scherben"; there are aspects that probably will be developed later in the most celebrated Expressionist films, but the primordial film style of Expressionism was already implicit in "Kammerspiele" although in a kind of primitive way.
"Scherben" as a pioneer "Kammerspiele", that is to say, an avant-garde film, demonstrates the quintessential German concern about specific artistic intentions and style; such purposes which finally would give the German silent films praise around the world whatever the film genre.
And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must catch a train.
Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com
SHATTERED (Lupu Pick, 1921) **
Bunuel197629 January 2014
The early German cinema was marked by two schools of film-making – Expressionist Horror and Chamber Dramas, known as "Kammerspiel" – which, given the heightened sense of reality at their centre (and also because a number of the great directors to emerge during this time proved adept at both styles), may be thought to converge. This whole approach does lend itself naturally to a psychological probing into situations and characters; however, while the former is a most invigorating commodity (its deliberate artificiality borne out in the acting, sets and cinematography) and has been very influential over the years, the results can be tough sledding indeed – unless it is deployed in the service of an engaging narrative – where the latter is concerned! Incidentally, while F.W. Murnau's THE LAST LAUGH (1924) received much prominence for its visual dynamic in telling a story without the benefit of intertitles, the film under review does the exact same thing (except for Werner Krauss' singular uttering of "I am a murderer!" towards the end)! Still, as suggested by my lowly rating (despite its presence on the "Wonders in the Dark" all-time top 3000 movies poll), the ensuing artistic quality is hardly comparable to that masterpiece – indeed, so over-the-top does this become (in the 'favourable' words of critic Jean- Andre' Fieschi, the characters here are like "somnambulists on the brink of madness") that it feels almost like a parody "Kammerspiel" effort!
The plot revolves around the family of middle-aged train-station attendant Werner Krauss; he receives a note that a railway inspector is to arrive and even reside in his home. Krauss has a young daughter – with whom the official is immediately taken, ending up seducing her while daddy is away on his night-shift diligently checking the tracks. Yet, his wife is sleeping in her room and, sensing that something is wrong, wakes up to catch him in the act: this is one of the most exaggerated sequences, as she contorts with torment at just what might be going on behind closed doors until she can stand it no longer and breaks it down with an axe! The partly-undressed girl is understandably grief-stricken at this, but the man is quite non-plussed; the old woman goes out to look for her husband but succumbs to the freezing temperature and dies in the snow right in front of a shrine! It gets sillier, as Krauss returns home, goes to sleep and out to work again the next morning none the wiser: one would think he ought to deign his family of a word; again, an unintentionally hilarious scene has him staring at length at his unmade bed, as if wondering just how his wife would go about it! Anyway, the tragedy that has struck his family eventually dawns on him (he even finds the corpse of his 'old lady') – and, doing the right thing, turns his full wrath upon the inspector and strangles him (why the latter stays on at Krauss' home, as if nothing had happened, is anybody's guess!). Their lives shattered, the father breaks down on the job and confesses to his 'crime', while the girl is shown climbing on the roof of the station as a train is pulling in
The plot revolves around the family of middle-aged train-station attendant Werner Krauss; he receives a note that a railway inspector is to arrive and even reside in his home. Krauss has a young daughter – with whom the official is immediately taken, ending up seducing her while daddy is away on his night-shift diligently checking the tracks. Yet, his wife is sleeping in her room and, sensing that something is wrong, wakes up to catch him in the act: this is one of the most exaggerated sequences, as she contorts with torment at just what might be going on behind closed doors until she can stand it no longer and breaks it down with an axe! The partly-undressed girl is understandably grief-stricken at this, but the man is quite non-plussed; the old woman goes out to look for her husband but succumbs to the freezing temperature and dies in the snow right in front of a shrine! It gets sillier, as Krauss returns home, goes to sleep and out to work again the next morning none the wiser: one would think he ought to deign his family of a word; again, an unintentionally hilarious scene has him staring at length at his unmade bed, as if wondering just how his wife would go about it! Anyway, the tragedy that has struck his family eventually dawns on him (he even finds the corpse of his 'old lady') – and, doing the right thing, turns his full wrath upon the inspector and strangles him (why the latter stays on at Krauss' home, as if nothing had happened, is anybody's guess!). Their lives shattered, the father breaks down on the job and confesses to his 'crime', while the girl is shown climbing on the roof of the station as a train is pulling in
Wonderful film
rmh32831 June 2000
This little picture is absolutely charming. There are few inconsistencies, and I would like to see a version where the "I am a murderer" scene is tinted red, as I understand it was in the original. Werner Krauss is spectacular as the bovine bourgeois, and Edith Posca, Lupu Pick's wife is extremely moving, especially in the scenes where she "throws herself" at the Paul Otto and when she vengefully confesses to her father (she reminds me of a cat in that scene). Too bad she didn't have many other acting roles ("Sylvester", also directed by Lupu Pick) is available only in Germany
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