Michael
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About Michael
Painter Claude Zoret and his model Michael live together and, for a time, work in the same rooms. Zoret agrees to paint Countess Lucia Zamikow. Michael falls in with her and begins to spend Zoret's money. The painter's last line, which also opens the film, is "Now I can die in peace, for I have seen true love."
Cast & crew
More about Michael
Carl Theodor Dreyer directed. He and Thea von Harbou wrote the script from Herman Bang's novel Mikaël. Erich Pommer produced for Decla-Bioscop. Berlin opening September 26, 1924. Walter Slezak is Michael, Benjamin Christensen is Zoret, Nora Gregor is the countess. Also released as Mikaël, Chained: The Story of the Third Sex, and Heart's Desire. A 2004 video version runs 86 minutes.
Themes
Reviews
Mordaunt Hall's notice in the New York Times in December 1926 was among the hostile early responses.
Look
Karl Freund and Rudolph Maté photographed the studio, the sittings, and the rooms Zoret and Michael share.
Preservation
Prints survive. David Shepard's 2004 video edition runs 86 minutes, against a 90-minute original listing.
Notes
- Karl Freund, who photographed The Last Laugh the same year, shares the camera credit with Rudolph Maté and also plays an art dealer.
- Christensen, a director before Dreyer in Denmark, acts the painter.
- Dreyer stays closer to Bang than the earlier film version of the novel had.
Scenes
- The countess's sittings pull Michael out of the studio.
- Zoret's last words are the same sentence that opens the film.
Influenced by
- Herman Bang, Mikaël
Quotes
Now I can die in peace, for I have seen true love.
