the first thing i have to mention is the transfer of the film. usually physical film quality is not of primary importance to me - but if (as in this case) there are a disturbing number of frames missing, your viewing pleasure is seriously impaired. here barely one minute goes by that the continuity within the same shot doesn't jump. having said that - the transfer is somewhat recent, restored and licensed from the murnau-stiftung, so i guess it has to be the best version available (i own the eureka edition). now ... the film is certainly not a masterpiece, but the sports scenes still can excite. so can the mountain and nature photography, which is rather splendidly done (they didn't even shy away from pointing the camera straight into the sun - something one doesn't see too often in movies). and this was about all the good there is for me. starting with the awful German text plates - in which even the basics of human behavior (of the characters) are displayed as requiring superhuman efforts/emotions ... the subconscious prelude to war i guess. the English subtitles thankfully use much better language - quite elegant in that too. also there is no humor in the film. one might smile about the idiotic script every now and then (nowadays), but this was certainly no intention back when it was filmed. conclusion: if you like silent movies, winter sports and history it might be worth a look, but not much else is there to be found.
Review of The Holy Mountain
