Widely considered to be the first "art film" ever made, The Student Of Prague tells the story of Balduin, the school's best swordsman and biggest ladies man.
Sad that he's poor...he makes a Faustian deal with the devil in the form of a man named Scapinelli...so that he can get himself a sugar mama...despite the fact that the coolest girl in school actually adores him.
What a dunce.
One day, he happens to save a young woman who had fallen off her horse, into a river...and this girl turns out to be a wealthy countess- how convenient.
Their love is, however, forbidden, because he's just too damn poor.
So Scapinelli offers Balduin a deal: 100,000 pieces of gold for anything in his dorm room.
Thinking he has nothing worth anything, he agrees...not suspecting that the devil will actually take his reflection.
He uses the gold to buy some sick new threads, and a little bling, so that he can impress the countess's father enough to let them hang...not realizing that his doppelganger- and the girl from school- is stalking his every move.
Cause, obviously she's concerned for his well being.
Despite not having the baron's permission to hang with his daughter, the two plan to meet secretly anyways...in the Jewish cemetery.
But they are confronted by the doppelganger, so she's understandably freaked out.
Prior to this, the baron was trying to get his daughter to marry her cousin...but Lydushcka- his stalker- rats them out.
So now the cousin is pissed off, and wants to duel the young swordsmith.
But his relatives try to stop him, because he's the only remaining male heir in the family.
And Balduin is definitely going to ruin him.
However, he can't get over his ego, so the baron begs Balduin not to kill him.
But before Balduin even gets to the duel...the cousin has been killed by his doppelganger.
So the baron cuts off access to his daughter.
Lyduschka uses the oppourtunity to try and win him over...but he's too stricken with heartbreak...and has been cursed with the obsession of having a rich wife.
So he can't see a good thing when it's right under his nose...and, thus, remains alone...as he continues to be haunted by his doppelganger.
Which drives him to break into the palace so that he can see the countess again...only for her to discover that he has no reflection...as it has become his doppelganger.
This fate drives him toward madness...as he plans to kill the doppelganger, once and for all.
But can you kill a manifestation of your own reflection without also killing yourself?
This was a landmark moment in cinematic history as it was the first time a single actor- Paul Wegener- was seen playing two roles on the screen at the same time.
Having been made prior to the German expressionist movement- and shot by Danish director, Stellan Rye.- the film has a much more traditional theatrical vibe.
But it has some pretty sweet location shooting, that captures a glimpse of turn of the century era Prague.
A real time capsule, whose narrative is a syncretization of Faust, Alfred de Musset's poem. The December Night, and Poe's short story William Wilson, that's oddly entertaining.
6 out of 10.
Sad that he's poor...he makes a Faustian deal with the devil in the form of a man named Scapinelli...so that he can get himself a sugar mama...despite the fact that the coolest girl in school actually adores him.
What a dunce.
One day, he happens to save a young woman who had fallen off her horse, into a river...and this girl turns out to be a wealthy countess- how convenient.
Their love is, however, forbidden, because he's just too damn poor.
So Scapinelli offers Balduin a deal: 100,000 pieces of gold for anything in his dorm room.
Thinking he has nothing worth anything, he agrees...not suspecting that the devil will actually take his reflection.
He uses the gold to buy some sick new threads, and a little bling, so that he can impress the countess's father enough to let them hang...not realizing that his doppelganger- and the girl from school- is stalking his every move.
Cause, obviously she's concerned for his well being.
Despite not having the baron's permission to hang with his daughter, the two plan to meet secretly anyways...in the Jewish cemetery.
But they are confronted by the doppelganger, so she's understandably freaked out.
Prior to this, the baron was trying to get his daughter to marry her cousin...but Lydushcka- his stalker- rats them out.
So now the cousin is pissed off, and wants to duel the young swordsmith.
But his relatives try to stop him, because he's the only remaining male heir in the family.
And Balduin is definitely going to ruin him.
However, he can't get over his ego, so the baron begs Balduin not to kill him.
But before Balduin even gets to the duel...the cousin has been killed by his doppelganger.
So the baron cuts off access to his daughter.
Lyduschka uses the oppourtunity to try and win him over...but he's too stricken with heartbreak...and has been cursed with the obsession of having a rich wife.
So he can't see a good thing when it's right under his nose...and, thus, remains alone...as he continues to be haunted by his doppelganger.
Which drives him to break into the palace so that he can see the countess again...only for her to discover that he has no reflection...as it has become his doppelganger.
This fate drives him toward madness...as he plans to kill the doppelganger, once and for all.
But can you kill a manifestation of your own reflection without also killing yourself?
This was a landmark moment in cinematic history as it was the first time a single actor- Paul Wegener- was seen playing two roles on the screen at the same time.
Having been made prior to the German expressionist movement- and shot by Danish director, Stellan Rye.- the film has a much more traditional theatrical vibe.
But it has some pretty sweet location shooting, that captures a glimpse of turn of the century era Prague.
A real time capsule, whose narrative is a syncretization of Faust, Alfred de Musset's poem. The December Night, and Poe's short story William Wilson, that's oddly entertaining.
6 out of 10.