Nick M
In my journey to survey the history of cinema I have now watched somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 films leading up to 1920. Robert Wiene directed both Dr. Caligari and Genuine, one of the writers is billed in both pictures, and they both have the same production designer. Despite these similarities, Caligari is one of the most worthy films I have seen in the silent pantheon, and this was one of the least. I am flabbergasted. The plot, as a whole, is stupid; it deserves no more charity than that. The characters' motivations are idiotic - how was this ever produced? The mind-boggling Expressionistic design in Caligari served a vital purpose within the narrative, but these crude attempts to recapture the eerie magic of the earlier picture seem to have no unifying vision, and are mostly just distracting. The handling of the psychological transformation of Genuine from a bloody-minded priestess of pain to a real woman "purified by love" is pathetic. Moreover, Fern Andra's acting in this role is atrocious. Each expression is overdone and derisable. There is little sex appeal here, which is virtually all the role calls for - Pola Negri she is not. Moreover, I lost count of the number of scenes where the characters meander around the set with no discernible purpose. And I cannot begin to see a point to the framing story. At the outset the painter has mysteriously become tormented to the point that he has become a shut-in, with all signs pointing to something to do the painting of this woman his dream reveals as the woman, Genuine. He will not sell it under any circumstances, but then he wakes up at the conclusion and cheerfully accepts a buyer's check, and all is well with nary a word of explanation? Garbage.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
11/12/24
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Genuine, die Tragödie eines seltsamen Hauses (Genuine, the Tragedy of a Strange House) was Robert Wiene's follow-up to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, with writer Carl Mayer, cinematographer Willy Hameister and production designer Cesar Klein returned to work on this vampiric film.
Genuine is not a true vampire, but instead a succubus that drains the souls of men, even destroying the life of the man who has painted her as this movie begins. Before the movie ends, she will cause men to murder one another and drive others to nearly kill themselves with her charms.
Genuine was played by Fern Andra, an acrobat whose physical acting is incredible. She's a mystery of a woman who destroys men simply because she enjoys doing so. At first a savage captured from a tribe and kept by a rich old man, she soon takes over the man's home and earns the ire of everyone in the surrounding area.
Is Genuine real? Is she an idea? Is she art? Is the story in the film a dream? While Dr. Caligari was a success, this film was seen as too much art for art's sake. I think even back in 1920, popular audiences could often be quite dumb.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
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A little difficult to follow but great sets.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/04/23
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The same year he made the celebrated work The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Wiene made this shorter horror about an irresistible woman who may be a witch or simply cursed and wild, who leads all men who lay their eyes on her to obsession, madness and murder. Well, it's certainly plain to see that this short is hardly as remarkable as what would later come in Dr. Caligari, but it is still of some interest as a sort of evidence of warm up to Wiene's exploits in the cinematic branch of German expressionism. Genuine is plagued by plot holes and is very confused, yet its style is still noteworthy.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/24/23
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Genuine, a sanguinary priestess for sale in an Oriental slave-market, is bought by a queer old man, who jealously confines her in a sort of glass cage inaccessible to visitors. But Genuine manages to lure a young barber into cutting the old tyrant's throat, and then carries on as supervamp, ruining all the men available.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/03/23
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GENUINE: A TALE OF A VAMPIRE (1920): after director Robert Wiene released his landmark film THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI, the film was a hit. But what few people know is Wiene made and released a second film in the same year called GENUINE, DIE TRAGÖDIE EINES SELTSAMEN HAUSES; translated in English means GENUINE, THE TRAGEDY OF A STRANGE HOUSE or under the title GENUINE : A TALE OF A VAMPIRE . Now there is not much left of this film that survives today except for a condensed 45 minute version of the film. As a matter of fact this is a rear silent film that's fortunate to have been released as a bonus on DVD as an extra feature a part of the DVD release of THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI by Beyond Home Video & Kino Home Video.
This film is another good example of German Expressionist cinema with beautiful distorted sets and set pieces and as a bonus the weird hair styles of some of the main cast members. Genuine tells a story of a high priestess called genuine being sold as a salve to an old, rich business man who is captivated by her beauty. So the rich business man houses her in a big distorted room where he admires her, one day the young town Barber shows up as usual to shave the business man were he falls asleep while the shave is taking place. Genuine escapes to find the Barber with the razor near the old man's throat, with her hypnotic powers she makes the Barber kill the old man and makes the Barber fall in love with her. Before too long the townsfolk becomes suspicious of the strange house and its new resident.
While no were near as creepy or for that matter as brilliant as CALIGARI, Genuine is a good film made in the style of German Expressionist cinema. It's just a shame I've only seen the condensed 45 minute version of the film, apparently one film archive in Germany might have a full copy of this film but for now the condensed 45 minute version will just have to do. 7/10
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/22/23
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