DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS (1919) was one of a series of films produced in Germany immediately after World War I that dealt with various aspects of sexuality. It was the only one to deal specifically with homosexuality and is groundbreaking in that sense. The film was heavily censored shortly after its release and today survives in a severely truncated form and has had to be reconstructed with several stills and title cards. As a result of this the film seems less like a film than a lecture on its topic, tolerance for homosexuality. In fact the edited version was known as GESETZE DER LIEBE (The Laws Of Love) and ran for around 40 minutes. That title refers to Paragraph 175, a German law enacted in 1871 that sentenced all homosexuals to jail terms of up to 5 years. It remained on the books until 1994.
The reconstructed version runs around 50 minutes and stars Conrad Veidt (CABINET OF DR CALIGARI, CASABLANCA) as Paul Korner, a concert violinist (labeled incorrectly as a pianist on the DVD cover) who falls in love with one of his students and is blackmailed by a former associate. Once he is exposed he is shunned by society and by his own family. The film also features Dr Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935), a real life sexologist who argued that homosexuals constituted a third sex who were this way naturally rather than by choice, an argument that still rages today. The movie was originally made for general release and had other characters and storylines. As mentioned earlier all that survives are the polemic aspects which makes DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS heavy going at times...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
This is one of 3 new films from Kino International in a series called GAY-THEMED FILMS OF THE GERMAN SILENT ERA. The other two films are MICHAEL (1924) by the well known Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer which features a young Walter Slezak and is the best of the three. It's like a silent version of DEATH IN VENICE. Then there is the luridly titled but deeply moving SEX IN CHAINS (1928) by the mainstream German and later Hollywood director William Dieterle (HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA). The story concerns a husband who is sent to prison for trying to protect his wife and what happens to both of them as a result of that. Dieterle also plays the husband. Both of these films are complete and are in very good shape considering their history. All three come with piano accompaniment and MICHAEL has optional audio commentary. These are certainly not movies that will have mass appeal (even among silent film enthusiasts) but they are important films and show that the silent cinema could and did tackle tough social issues. The restorations were done in 1999 but are just now being made available on home video...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
The reconstructed version runs around 50 minutes and stars Conrad Veidt (CABINET OF DR CALIGARI, CASABLANCA) as Paul Korner, a concert violinist (labeled incorrectly as a pianist on the DVD cover) who falls in love with one of his students and is blackmailed by a former associate. Once he is exposed he is shunned by society and by his own family. The film also features Dr Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935), a real life sexologist who argued that homosexuals constituted a third sex who were this way naturally rather than by choice, an argument that still rages today. The movie was originally made for general release and had other characters and storylines. As mentioned earlier all that survives are the polemic aspects which makes DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS heavy going at times...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
This is one of 3 new films from Kino International in a series called GAY-THEMED FILMS OF THE GERMAN SILENT ERA. The other two films are MICHAEL (1924) by the well known Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer which features a young Walter Slezak and is the best of the three. It's like a silent version of DEATH IN VENICE. Then there is the luridly titled but deeply moving SEX IN CHAINS (1928) by the mainstream German and later Hollywood director William Dieterle (HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA). The story concerns a husband who is sent to prison for trying to protect his wife and what happens to both of them as a result of that. Dieterle also plays the husband. Both of these films are complete and are in very good shape considering their history. All three come with piano accompaniment and MICHAEL has optional audio commentary. These are certainly not movies that will have mass appeal (even among silent film enthusiasts) but they are important films and show that the silent cinema could and did tackle tough social issues. The restorations were done in 1999 but are just now being made available on home video...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.