The Student of Prague tells the story of young Balduin, a charismatic and devoted "swordsman" who is a bit out his luck in the financials and gets a bit morose as a result. Along comes creepy old Scapinelli who eventually (20 minutes into the film) strikes a deal with Balduin which grants him anything he wants in exchange for a large sum of gold. This is the real meat of the story, but unfortunately seems more like a subplot to the romance that too often takes centre stage between Balduin and a rich countess named Margit. What results is a sporadically engrossing "horror" movie mixed with a very slow-moving and tepid romance which goes nowhere. By the time we get to the film's inevitable conclusion, we realize it could have been told in half the time and with greater results had it not devoted much of its time to going nowhere with a love story that neither develops nor endears. Sure, Paul Wegener's loose adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's William Wilson is an important one in terms of independent, expressionist cinema, but is it worth watching now? Not really. You're better going straight to Caligari rather than stopping by to read the history of each bus stop on the way. It's occasionally interesting, and somewhat of a maverick for the times, but too mundane and plodding on the whole to make it the classic it ought to be.
Review of The Student of Prague
