"The Wax Figure Cabinet" on Arte: Contemporary reconstruction work and music save an almost lost work of art for the present.
Those were good times for a horror film: the Hitler-Ludendorff putsch against the republic almost failed in November 1923, and a year later Paul Leni's “The Wax Museum” came to German cinemas - a film that shows the violent figures of the past that come to life plays and agreeably dissolves into relieved smiling fiction.
The plot is simple: in the frame story, a young poet is asked by a showman to write a story about the three worst horror characters in his wax museum - Harun Al Raschid, Ivan the Terrible, Jack the Ripper. He takes the job all the more when the lovely fairground daughter looks over his shoulder curiously and inspiringly, and of course she and he are the heroes of the three following film-in-film stories, the third of which - about Jack the Ripper - falls short. Actually, a fourth episode of Rinaldo Rinaldini was planned, but there wasn't even enough money for an extensive third episode.
"The Wax Figure Cabinet" on Arte: Music accompanies the film, sometimes with commentary, sometimes with background music
Because in 1929 the obsolete silent films and the associated music usually disappeared carelessly after the introduction of the sound film, the source situation is scarce almost a century later. "The wax museum" had to be reconstructed and restored, which was why the Deutsche Kinemathek took the initiative and also commissioned the composition of a new film score that would accompany the film from a current position, sometimes with background information or commentary.
Strictly speaking, there are three remarkable works to experience: First, the beautiful old film with all the strangely exaggerated grimacing, gesticulating, attitude-intensive acting, the displayed text panels (in English, which is due to the material for the reconstruction, but there are additional German subtitles , for which little time remains) and the expressionistic black and white drawing of the scenes; Incidentally, Olga Belajeff, Emil Jannings, Conrad Veidt, William Dieterle and Werner Krauß play some of the most prominent actors of the time.
Second, there is the admirable restoration work that applies to a work that represents a lost art. Because, as you quickly notice, a silent film with music has little to do with, for example, a Hollywood film of the 21st century. A strong viewer willingness without the usual naturalism and accepting the artfully sketchy backdrops is a prerequisite for any kind of following the film.
"The Wax Figure Cabinet" on Arte: gems of earlier German cinema art
And then there is the music. It was written by three composers, namely Bernd Schultheis, Olav Lervik and Jan Kohl. How to get three composers to work together? No idea. The music is played by musicians from the MusikFabrik ensemble. She does not all emphasize the sedating, fairytale qualities of the stories told, but emphasizes the shimmering, sometimes almost panicky nervousness in them. After all, in a nightmare you can never know who will come around the corner next and roll your eyes wickedly. The interpretation that the music gives to the film looks back from our present to the old days of horror.
The film was shown in its new form at the Berlinale a few days ago and is part of the sequence of splendid pieces of early German cinema art that have been coming to the public from the historically enlightened and politically problematic hands of restorers and composers.
The Wax Figure Cabinet, Arte, Monday, February 24, 11:25 p.m. On the net: Arte +7
By Hans-Jürgen Linke