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The Student
of Prague

(1913)

 

Balduin the student is the toast of Prague, but is despondent over being broke. A not-so-chance encounter with Satan, disguised as Scapinelli, results in a deal for one-hundred thousand pieces of gold in exchange for the use of whatever he should desire in Balduin’s apartment. Scapinelli lays claim to the foolish student’s soul — represented by his corporeal mirror reflection — in typical satanic sneakiness.

Balduin is endulging his fascination with the countess Margit, but is unnerved by the reappearance of his animate double and the indignance of the Margit’s betrothed, her cousin (sick!), the baron Waldis-Schwarzenberg. Challenged to a sword duel, Balduin is compelled to spare his rival, but is undone by the killing of the baron by his ghostly doppelganger.

Margit refuses to see Balduin after her fiancé’s death, but is swayed when he steals into her house. All their reconciliation is unravelled when she discovers that he no longer has a mirror reflection — and it appears suddenly in the room. Whereever Balduin flees he is intercepted by his devilish double. The spectral chase is culminated in the ultimate triumph of the impish Scapinelli.

Director Hanns Heinz Ewers’s staging is distractingly clumsy in places, with characters lurking aimlessly and inexplicably unseen in the background of shots. Paul Wegener’s acting is peppered with the archaic gesticulations and the mawkish expressions of a stage ham. And John Gottowt’s Scapinelli is as self-conscious as any other Gottowt performance. But this early feature film was one of the earliest examples of was became known as the German Expressionist movement in motion pictures, and maintains a marginal degree of cinematic importance as such.

Carl Bennett

coverEdition Filmmuseum
2016 DVD edition

The Student of Prague (1913) [reconstruction version], color-tinted black & white, 76 minutes, not rated, with The Student of Prague (1913) [English export version], color-tinted black & white, 83 minutes, not rated, The Student of Prague; or, A Bargain with Satan (1913) [abridged USA release version], color-tinted black & white and color-toned black & white, 46 minutes, not rated, and Die ideale Gattin (1916), color-tinted black & white, 16 minutes, not rated.

Edition Filmmuseum, 80, UPC/EAN 9-783958-600805.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 PAL DVD discs; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 576 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 7.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 50 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 224 Kbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles [reconstruction and English export versions] and English language intertitles [abridged USA release version], optional English and French language subtitles; 4 chapter stops [reconstruction version], 4 chapter stops [English export version]; 20-page insert booklet; standard two-disc DVD keepcase; €29,95.
Release date: July 2016 (second edition, December 2016; third editon, June 2021).
Country of origin: Germany

Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.

This PAL DVD edition has been mastered from the restoration version of the film that utilized a number of 35mm prints, including the 1926 German rerelease version, with inserts from a good 16mm reduction print. The results still include dust, a moderate amount of speckling, some filmbase scuffing, and other minor print flaws.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed by Josef Weiss, arranged and performed on piano by Mark Pogolski [reconstruction version], and a music score composed by Josef Weiss, arranged by Bernd Thewes and performed by the Orchester Jakobsplatz München, conducted by Daniel Grossmann [English export version].

Supplemental material includes audio description (in German) of the reconstruction version; the USA release version of the film The Student of Prague; or, A Bargain with Satan (1913) [abridged] containing alternate footage and presented without musical accompaniment (46 minutes); Die ideale Gattin (1916) directed by Hanns Heinz Ewers and including cast member Ernst Lubitsch, presented without musical accompaniment (16 minutes); original script and documents (accessed by computer DVD-ROM features); and a 20-page insert booklet with writings by Hanns Heinz Ewers and by Stefan Drössler.

This is our recommended home video edition of the film. After years of enduring the crappy Alpha Video edition noted below, this edition is a true pleasure to watch. North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
 
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
 
This Region 0 PAL DVD edition is also available directly from . . .
coverGrapevine Video
2015 DVD edition

The Student of Prague (1913), color-tinted black & white, 71 minutes, not rated.

Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 6-60845-44715-8.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles, permanent English language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $16.95.
Release date: 4 March 2015.
Country of origin: USA
This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.

The film is accompanied by a music score by Christopher Congdon.

Even sight unseen, we recommend this edition over the Alpha Video edition noted below.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
 
This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
coverAlpha Video
2004 DVD edition

The Student of Prague (1913) [abridged USA release version], black & white, 42 minutes, not rated.

Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 4412D, UPC 0-89218-44129-4.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 6.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 6 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $6.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 25 May 2004.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 2 / audio: 5 / additional content: 0 / overall: 3.

Alpha Video scored a minor coup by being the first to release this film in an American DVD home video edition. However, this disc appears to have been mastered from a VHS videotape copy edition, prepared from what appears to be a good 8mm reduction print, rendering a disc of poor visual quality. The low resolution of the VHS video master further degenerates the lack of fine image details in the already subpar source material, which has the usual problems of poorly-manufactured reduction prints: contrasty greytones with loss of highlight details and with murky, plugged-up shadows. The print is dusty and spliced in a few places. The moving image, nonetheless, remains of just-sufficient quality to follow the action and (occasionally) see the shadings of a subtle facial expression. Alpha Video has also provided new English language intertitles and insert shots of letters.

The new synthesizer musical accompaniment by Paul David Bergel does a passable job of emulating a pipe organ, and strives to create an eerie atmosphere. But it has also received some criticism for being amateurish, repetitious and unpleasant. However, any original accompaniment is at least a notch better than unrelated canned music assembled only for the sake of filling silence. At least Alpha Video has seen fit to expend some money for an original score to accompany the film despite the disc’s low cost.

Not at all recommended, look instead for the Region-Free edition from Edition Filmmuseum noted above.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
 
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
 
United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
Other silent era PAUL WEGENER films available on home video.

Other GERMAN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.

Other HORROR FILMS of the silent era available on home video.

Other EARLY FEATURE-LENGTH FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
 
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