This German film by Fritz Lang was considered lost until a nitrate copy turned up in Brazil, where it was partially restored. It has Portuguese intertitles, with some English translations muxed in. This means that I found it very difficult to work out what was actually happening, though I got the impression it was an early bergfilm. A woman travels by train and local tram, on which she receives a telegram, through the woods to the Königsee. She is followed by a man, and someone who may or may not have been her husband travels by car. At her hotel they have re-let her room, but the man offers her one of his. She then takes a motor boat across the Königsee, with the man following by rowing boat. To get away from her pursuer she goes into a house and persuades a woman to give her mountain clothes. She immediately starts climbing into the mountains. High up a shepherd refuses her shelter so she goes to a nearby farm. By this time her "husband" has caught up with her. She rejoins the shepherd who appears to be a former lover, but who has made a celibacy vow to the nearby Notre Dame des Neiges, perched on an ice cornice. They hide from the husband in a mountain refuge but he steals some dynamite from a nearby quarry and blasts an avalanche to bury the refuge. When the rescue party arrives, he throws rocks at them, but after a struggle falls off the mountain and is killed. The shepherd explains that he cannot return to civilisation because of his vow. On the way down the woman calls into the farm, where the mother is dying. She comforts the child, closes the mother's eyes and takes the child down to the town. Meanwhile, the farmer has been praying to the Virgin asking to be released from his vows. A storm destroys the statue, and he then sees the woman and child, Madonna-like in a superbly composed scene, going down the mountain. He follows, and everyone re-crosses the Königsee. Back at the hotel, the woman is having dinner with the man who had been following her, when the shepherd walks in. They appear to be re-united. I may have got this completely wrong, but the film was worth watching for the scenery alone; in addition, the acting was of a high quality without too many histrionics.
8 Reviews
A rarity
sobot3 November 2009
This movie seems to be quite a rare one; I gather it was found in a private collection somewhere in Brazil. The version I saw has Portuguese titles, but English subtitles can also be found.
At first you will have a feeling that there is something missing, but more or less everything will become clear later. Not explaining everything at once, Lang succeeds in emphasizing the frenzy in which we find the heroine, running away from the mysterious man.
Perhaps the movie should have been made longer, especially in the flashback part, but I guess Lang wanted to make a thriller, not a drama. However, Wikipedia says that the movie is partially lost, so we will never know what it was like in the original version.
I guess that anyone who likes silent movies must like this one too. After all, Fritz Lang was probably the only director who managed to be great both in silent and talking movies.
At first you will have a feeling that there is something missing, but more or less everything will become clear later. Not explaining everything at once, Lang succeeds in emphasizing the frenzy in which we find the heroine, running away from the mysterious man.
Perhaps the movie should have been made longer, especially in the flashback part, but I guess Lang wanted to make a thriller, not a drama. However, Wikipedia says that the movie is partially lost, so we will never know what it was like in the original version.
I guess that anyone who likes silent movies must like this one too. After all, Fritz Lang was probably the only director who managed to be great both in silent and talking movies.
Hard to review
tnrcooper3 November 2013
A bit of a baffling film - actually more than a bit. This was Lang's second film and was thought lost for a while until a print turned up in Portugal in 1986. The title cards are in Portuguese but there are subtitles which you can download. Apparently two or three of the reels of the film are missing and I imagine that would make the film much more intelligible.
The heroine of the film has been in a relationship with a radical philosopher. He fakes his death at some point - perhaps to escape from society. This leaves her alone and she has a child. There is also an inheritance which she doesn't get but I'm not exactly sure the significance of this.
In any case, there is some good acting in the film, particularly from the lead actress and also from the lady villager who helps her. Lang is dealing with some very interesting material and probably the missing reels would clarify the questions I had. The quality of the print I saw was terrible and again, this only contributed to my confusion. It is an interesting film but it's really hard to authoritatively review it when you're so unsure as to motives.
I'd recommend it for fans of Lang, but you may be a bit confused.
The heroine of the film has been in a relationship with a radical philosopher. He fakes his death at some point - perhaps to escape from society. This leaves her alone and she has a child. There is also an inheritance which she doesn't get but I'm not exactly sure the significance of this.
In any case, there is some good acting in the film, particularly from the lead actress and also from the lady villager who helps her. Lang is dealing with some very interesting material and probably the missing reels would clarify the questions I had. The quality of the print I saw was terrible and again, this only contributed to my confusion. It is an interesting film but it's really hard to authoritatively review it when you're so unsure as to motives.
I'd recommend it for fans of Lang, but you may be a bit confused.
Hard to Rate in Current Form
Michael_Elliott1 December 2010
Das wandernde Bild (1920)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This 1920 German film is one of Fritz Lang's earliest and for decades it was considered lost before a print turned up in Brazil in 1986. As with FOUR AROUND A WOMAN, another Lang film, this one here is missing at least two or three reels. I've read four different reviews for this film and each one gave a different description of the plot. What is certain the film is about a woman (Mia May) who runs away from her abusive husband. She ends up in some mountain era where she hides out only to run into what appears to be her husband's twin brother. Soon the husband is back on her trail as she runs into a former boyfriend who had taken a vow of celibacy. There are other plot twists with more people coming and going but it's pretty hard to tell exactly what's going on for a couple reasons. Of course there's the fact that so much of the film is missing but another negative thing is that the film has Portuguese inter-titles and the English translation is extremely poor at times. With that said, there's enough interesting aspects to make this film worth watching. There's no question that it's quite unlike anything else that Lang was doing around this time unless his other lost films turn out to be like this. The film really seems like it could have influenced Luis Bunuel due to all the religious stuff here. There are some striking images including one of the Virgin Mary coming down a mountain as well as other scenes that take a look at religion. I've heard one person call this film something that Dreyer would make instead of Lang and I think that's a fair statement. Another thing that makes this worth viewing is the performance by May who is downright breath taking at times. I thought she did a marvelous job showing how tortured and frightened this woman was. The actress never has to overact and makes for a very interesting character and one that you really care for. The rest of the performances were decent at best so there's no question this belongs to May all the way. Also known as THE MOVING IMAGE, you can't help but hope that a complete print turns up at some point because it would undoubtedly make the film all the more interesting. There appear to be all sorts of subplots that have been cut out so I'm sure a complete print would help when it comes to figuring out the story.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This 1920 German film is one of Fritz Lang's earliest and for decades it was considered lost before a print turned up in Brazil in 1986. As with FOUR AROUND A WOMAN, another Lang film, this one here is missing at least two or three reels. I've read four different reviews for this film and each one gave a different description of the plot. What is certain the film is about a woman (Mia May) who runs away from her abusive husband. She ends up in some mountain era where she hides out only to run into what appears to be her husband's twin brother. Soon the husband is back on her trail as she runs into a former boyfriend who had taken a vow of celibacy. There are other plot twists with more people coming and going but it's pretty hard to tell exactly what's going on for a couple reasons. Of course there's the fact that so much of the film is missing but another negative thing is that the film has Portuguese inter-titles and the English translation is extremely poor at times. With that said, there's enough interesting aspects to make this film worth watching. There's no question that it's quite unlike anything else that Lang was doing around this time unless his other lost films turn out to be like this. The film really seems like it could have influenced Luis Bunuel due to all the religious stuff here. There are some striking images including one of the Virgin Mary coming down a mountain as well as other scenes that take a look at religion. I've heard one person call this film something that Dreyer would make instead of Lang and I think that's a fair statement. Another thing that makes this worth viewing is the performance by May who is downright breath taking at times. I thought she did a marvelous job showing how tortured and frightened this woman was. The actress never has to overact and makes for a very interesting character and one that you really care for. The rest of the performances were decent at best so there's no question this belongs to May all the way. Also known as THE MOVING IMAGE, you can't help but hope that a complete print turns up at some point because it would undoubtedly make the film all the more interesting. There appear to be all sorts of subplots that have been cut out so I'm sure a complete print would help when it comes to figuring out the story.
An odd but very early feature film from Fritz Lang!
JohnHowardReid23 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
My DVD copy of this movie is a really beautiful print - and in lustrous color I might add. A friend purchased it for me in Germany about ten or twelve years ago. The DVD caries no label at all, and, almost needless to say, with my customary dexterity, I mislaid it. It turned up last night when I was actually hunting for something else.
Don't get too excited! The frequent subtitles are in German and French. They are not plastered on the image but have frames to themselves, German on the top half of the screen, French on the bottom half.
Fortunately, I have a smattering of both German and French and the sub-titles were obviously designed to be read by people like me who have what I would describe as a tourist vocabulary. There is no way in the world that I could read "Mein Kampf" but I know enough words to book a room, order a meal and ask passers-by the way to the zoo or how to get back to my hotel.
So far, so good. The problem is that the titles don't stay on screen long enough to read both the French and the German. Unless you want to freeze-frame all the time - and as there are more than a hundred titles - you really need to pick French and ignore German, or vice versa. So I finally settled on French.
After going to all this trouble, I later discovered there was a synopsis of the story in English on the back cover of the DVD!
But it was all worth the trouble. A beautiful print and a certainly engaging if rather odd story that you would never associate with Fritz Lang. Filmed on real, snow-laden locations too!
Don't get too excited! The frequent subtitles are in German and French. They are not plastered on the image but have frames to themselves, German on the top half of the screen, French on the bottom half.
Fortunately, I have a smattering of both German and French and the sub-titles were obviously designed to be read by people like me who have what I would describe as a tourist vocabulary. There is no way in the world that I could read "Mein Kampf" but I know enough words to book a room, order a meal and ask passers-by the way to the zoo or how to get back to my hotel.
So far, so good. The problem is that the titles don't stay on screen long enough to read both the French and the German. Unless you want to freeze-frame all the time - and as there are more than a hundred titles - you really need to pick French and ignore German, or vice versa. So I finally settled on French.
After going to all this trouble, I later discovered there was a synopsis of the story in English on the back cover of the DVD!
But it was all worth the trouble. A beautiful print and a certainly engaging if rather odd story that you would never associate with Fritz Lang. Filmed on real, snow-laden locations too!
Underrated work by Lang
Horst_In_Translation27 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"Das wandernde Bild" or "The Moving Image" is a German black-and-white silent movie from 1920, so it is not that long anymore until this one will have its 100th anniversary. The star here is clearly writer and director Fritz Lang, but the cast includes a couple pretty famous names from the old days too, such as Mia May or Rudolf Klein-Rogge of course. Unfortunately, the film has not survived in its entirety, but the version that still exists runs for 66 minutes and luckily they managed to include text notes about the scenes we cannot watch anymore. I think in this case it works in the film's favor that it is such a relatively short movie, because it stays pretty essential. It did not drag and it never felt as if the film was too long for its own good. The scenes made sense in putting together a convincing product. The film has some good writing about family, crime and drama and also has really nice photography for such an old movie. It is also an interesting example of how actors back then played effortlessly several characters in the same film. This one is better than most of Lang's more known works in my opinion. I recommend the watch.
Unconvincing Melodrama
davidmvining12 August 2022
If I had been a contemporary of Fritz Lang in his early career, this is about the point that I'd begin writing him off. There was some entertainment in the first of the Spiders episodes, but the only real positive attribute of the next two films was the production design. Here, in The Wandering Shadow, there's still a strong visual element that comes up from time to time, mostly when filming in the mountains, but the story is a complete jumble. Not helped by the fact that a good chunk of the film is lost, it's an overplotted, under-written slog.
Being incomplete isn't always a deal breaker. Thinking back to Carl Theodor Dreyer's Der var engang, another incomplete film that I actually kind of fell in love with despite the missing sections, explanatory text helps fill in the gaps and can even provide some level of emotional catharsis if the remaining elements support it. It can also end up like John Ford's Mother Machree where the final two reels were completely missing, and there was no way to tell where the story was even going to go. I don't think the missing parts of The Wandering Shadow are debilitating to understanding the film. They cause a certain confusion, especially early, but that's eventually overcome. The problem isn't that there are missing sections, but that the sections that are there are all situation and no character.
Irmgard (Mia May) is on a train into the mountains of Germany where, coincidentally, her deceased husband's cousin, Wil Brand (Rudolf Klein-Rogge), who is in pursuit of her in order to claim the inheritance he thinks is his, is also riding. When he sees her emotional state, he sends off a telegraph to his lawyer to stop all efforts at claiming the inheritance. I don't know what the point of all that was. Anyway, Irmgard is fleeing from her husband's twin brother John (Hans Marr) for unclear reasons that will get cleared up. All we need to know in the beginning is that she's fleeing him, so when he catches up, Wil helps Irmgard flee into the mountains where she goes up alone. John is in quick pursuit, though, and catches up with her just in time for a mysterious mountain man to save her from John. It turns out that this mountain man is, completely coincidentally, Georg (also Marr), her husband. Well, not really. We'll get to that.
It's in Georg's cabin that we finally get the reasons for the first half hour of the film in the form of two extended flashbacks, one from each character, that explains how they both got there. Georg was a noted philosopher who was a proponent of free love when he met Irmgard. They fell in love, but his affection for her was at odds with his beliefs. When she conspired with John to use his identical look to forge a wedding certificate at the local church that said that Irmgard and Georg were married, Georg (the real one) decides to fake his death and flee without telling anyone (again...that Irmgard ran into Georg in the middle of the mountains in the middle of a chase was a complete coincidence). John seemingly wants to maintain the fiction (or reality, I guess) that he is married to Irmgard so that he can inherit Georg's money. The way all of this information is divvied out is really dense without any real room for character.
Why does Irmgard love Georg? Because the plot demands it, essentially. Who is Wil? Doesn't matter. Why is John so desperate for the cash? Because he's bad, I guess. It's all super thin, and that undermines any sort of emotional catharsis that's supposed to happen when the two meet up and then spend the rest of the movie trying to figure out ways to get back together. She can't abandon their daughter (who should be 2 but looks at least 5), and he can't give up on a vow he made to a statue of the Virgin Mary carried the Christ child in the mountains that he wouldn't leave until it comes alive and walks away. The predictability of how this is going to manifest is pretty obvious once we see Irmgard taking care of a poor woman's child. It's also really weird that the final intertitle completely forgets their daughter, seemingly implying that they abandon her.
Really, the only thing going for the film is the location shooting. Filming in the German Alps, Lang uses the high mountains to create some very nice compositions, in particular around the vertical space with people looming over each other. Set work is much more mundane, though the destruction of Georg's shock in an avalanche, as seen from the inside, does show some very nice detail (though the set itself is understandably threadbare). In the end, though, it feels like Lang, and his screenwriter wife Thea van Harbou) were struggling to find stories to tell within the new medium that they were still learning. Perhaps it was increasing pressure from Joe May, his producer, to find a hit, working in melodrama that seems to have been much more popular in the past than now.
The incompleteness doesn't help the film, but I also don't think it really hurts it either. The film simply isn't that good.
Being incomplete isn't always a deal breaker. Thinking back to Carl Theodor Dreyer's Der var engang, another incomplete film that I actually kind of fell in love with despite the missing sections, explanatory text helps fill in the gaps and can even provide some level of emotional catharsis if the remaining elements support it. It can also end up like John Ford's Mother Machree where the final two reels were completely missing, and there was no way to tell where the story was even going to go. I don't think the missing parts of The Wandering Shadow are debilitating to understanding the film. They cause a certain confusion, especially early, but that's eventually overcome. The problem isn't that there are missing sections, but that the sections that are there are all situation and no character.
Irmgard (Mia May) is on a train into the mountains of Germany where, coincidentally, her deceased husband's cousin, Wil Brand (Rudolf Klein-Rogge), who is in pursuit of her in order to claim the inheritance he thinks is his, is also riding. When he sees her emotional state, he sends off a telegraph to his lawyer to stop all efforts at claiming the inheritance. I don't know what the point of all that was. Anyway, Irmgard is fleeing from her husband's twin brother John (Hans Marr) for unclear reasons that will get cleared up. All we need to know in the beginning is that she's fleeing him, so when he catches up, Wil helps Irmgard flee into the mountains where she goes up alone. John is in quick pursuit, though, and catches up with her just in time for a mysterious mountain man to save her from John. It turns out that this mountain man is, completely coincidentally, Georg (also Marr), her husband. Well, not really. We'll get to that.
It's in Georg's cabin that we finally get the reasons for the first half hour of the film in the form of two extended flashbacks, one from each character, that explains how they both got there. Georg was a noted philosopher who was a proponent of free love when he met Irmgard. They fell in love, but his affection for her was at odds with his beliefs. When she conspired with John to use his identical look to forge a wedding certificate at the local church that said that Irmgard and Georg were married, Georg (the real one) decides to fake his death and flee without telling anyone (again...that Irmgard ran into Georg in the middle of the mountains in the middle of a chase was a complete coincidence). John seemingly wants to maintain the fiction (or reality, I guess) that he is married to Irmgard so that he can inherit Georg's money. The way all of this information is divvied out is really dense without any real room for character.
Why does Irmgard love Georg? Because the plot demands it, essentially. Who is Wil? Doesn't matter. Why is John so desperate for the cash? Because he's bad, I guess. It's all super thin, and that undermines any sort of emotional catharsis that's supposed to happen when the two meet up and then spend the rest of the movie trying to figure out ways to get back together. She can't abandon their daughter (who should be 2 but looks at least 5), and he can't give up on a vow he made to a statue of the Virgin Mary carried the Christ child in the mountains that he wouldn't leave until it comes alive and walks away. The predictability of how this is going to manifest is pretty obvious once we see Irmgard taking care of a poor woman's child. It's also really weird that the final intertitle completely forgets their daughter, seemingly implying that they abandon her.
Really, the only thing going for the film is the location shooting. Filming in the German Alps, Lang uses the high mountains to create some very nice compositions, in particular around the vertical space with people looming over each other. Set work is much more mundane, though the destruction of Georg's shock in an avalanche, as seen from the inside, does show some very nice detail (though the set itself is understandably threadbare). In the end, though, it feels like Lang, and his screenwriter wife Thea van Harbou) were struggling to find stories to tell within the new medium that they were still learning. Perhaps it was increasing pressure from Joe May, his producer, to find a hit, working in melodrama that seems to have been much more popular in the past than now.
The incompleteness doesn't help the film, but I also don't think it really hurts it either. The film simply isn't that good.
Lang Primative
Mozjoukine10 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
In a murky and shortened streamed version and much better DVD of the 1987 restoration, this (very) early Lang film must vie with BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT as the director's worst outing.
With it's alpine snowscapes and surprise revelation, it seems closer to Scandinavians like Dreyer and Seastrom or to Arnold Fank, . Throw in an END OF THE AFFAIR vow.
Matronly May (who is not above pressing both palms to her brow in anguish) is on a real train, when she gets a warning telegram. Marr, a motorist is following her escape into the Bavarian mountains. Arriving at the Tyrolean valley resort, she finds her room let but young Dr. Mabuse offers her his, following her across the Königsee lake by motor boat, leaving the pursuer to be rowed.
A hooded mountain hermit first turns May away but finally takes her in, as the man approaches. A flashback reveals the pursuer is the twin brother (an OK matte of him at the window above himself) of her free love companion who wouldn't marry her after she had a child. May and the brother faked a wedding.
The brother sends rocks hurtling down on the hut, where they shelter. Buried in the avalanche with not so convincing studio interiors, May realises that the recluse is actually (cf. MONASTERY at SENDOMIR) her lover Marr, the brother of pursuer Marr - got that?
Klein Rogge leads the rescue and husband Marr is killed in the fight. However that does not bring happiness to all, as hermit Marr has sworn to the stone virgin on the ice cornice that he will not move on May again till the statue walks. A vision or a plot convenience relieves him of his vow. He comes down the mountain to the hotel, where May is being dined by Rogge. The non marriage bond is vindicated and the couple go off leaving cousin Rogge to inherit the family fortune.
As far as can be determined by the abbreviated copy, the handling is advanced for the time and the subject matter is surprisingly modern, including rape in marriage. However it is suffused with the same Xmas card religion that shows up in METROPOLIS. The superimposed phantom bell also anticipates that film's shown-sound alarm gong.
The alpine segments are the film's best and Seeber's snow scenics with grad filter skies are the film's major asset even if his dissolves in camera are shakey.
The piece holds attention quite well and has some striking images - the railway, the lake, the bogus walking virgin, the pursuer foreground in mid shot with the escaping pair across the chasm, distant. However it is just a relic with none of the evil fascination of the director's crime movies.
With it's alpine snowscapes and surprise revelation, it seems closer to Scandinavians like Dreyer and Seastrom or to Arnold Fank, . Throw in an END OF THE AFFAIR vow.
Matronly May (who is not above pressing both palms to her brow in anguish) is on a real train, when she gets a warning telegram. Marr, a motorist is following her escape into the Bavarian mountains. Arriving at the Tyrolean valley resort, she finds her room let but young Dr. Mabuse offers her his, following her across the Königsee lake by motor boat, leaving the pursuer to be rowed.
A hooded mountain hermit first turns May away but finally takes her in, as the man approaches. A flashback reveals the pursuer is the twin brother (an OK matte of him at the window above himself) of her free love companion who wouldn't marry her after she had a child. May and the brother faked a wedding.
The brother sends rocks hurtling down on the hut, where they shelter. Buried in the avalanche with not so convincing studio interiors, May realises that the recluse is actually (cf. MONASTERY at SENDOMIR) her lover Marr, the brother of pursuer Marr - got that?
Klein Rogge leads the rescue and husband Marr is killed in the fight. However that does not bring happiness to all, as hermit Marr has sworn to the stone virgin on the ice cornice that he will not move on May again till the statue walks. A vision or a plot convenience relieves him of his vow. He comes down the mountain to the hotel, where May is being dined by Rogge. The non marriage bond is vindicated and the couple go off leaving cousin Rogge to inherit the family fortune.
As far as can be determined by the abbreviated copy, the handling is advanced for the time and the subject matter is surprisingly modern, including rape in marriage. However it is suffused with the same Xmas card religion that shows up in METROPOLIS. The superimposed phantom bell also anticipates that film's shown-sound alarm gong.
The alpine segments are the film's best and Seeber's snow scenics with grad filter skies are the film's major asset even if his dissolves in camera are shakey.
The piece holds attention quite well and has some striking images - the railway, the lake, the bogus walking virgin, the pursuer foreground in mid shot with the escaping pair across the chasm, distant. However it is just a relic with none of the evil fascination of the director's crime movies.
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