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Herr Tartüff
1926 Comedy / Drama
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Credits
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Director: F.W. Murnau
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Script: Carl Mayer, based on the play "Tartuffe" by Molière
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Photo: Karl Freund
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Music: Giuseppe Becce, Rolf Unkel
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Cast: Hermann Picha (Der Greis),
Rosa Valetti (Housekeeper),
André Mattoni (Grandson),
Werner Krauss (Herr Orgon),
Lil Dagover (Elmire,
Orgon's wife),
Lucie Höflich (Dorine),
Emil Jannings (Tartüff)
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Country: Germany
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Language: German
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Runtime: 70 min; B&W, silent
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Aka: Tartüff; Tartuffe
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Summary
A wealthy old man is about to sign away his entire fortune to his housekeeper when his
grandson makes an unexpected return. Convinced by his housekeeper that his grandson
has led a bad and dissolute life, the old man throws him out onto the street. Seeing
through the housekeeper's game, the grandson, an actor, returns in disguise and offers
to show them a film adaptation of Molière's "Tartuffe". In the film, a scheming
parasite, Tartüff, plays on the gullibility of a nobleman, Orgon, to extort money
and favour. Shocked by what she sees, Orgon's wife, Elmire, resolves to unmask the
villainous Tartüff. When her well-laid trap fails, Orgon is more than ever convinced
of his friend's piety…
Review
Admittedly a modest work when set aside Murnau's grand masterpieces of the time - such
as Nosferatu (1922) and
Faust (1926) - Herr
Tartüff nonetheless stands as a beautifully composed example of German expressionism,
and is certainly one of the director's lighter and more humanist works. Emil Jannings
is perfect as the Nosferatu-like villain Tartuffe, a magnificent portrayal of that leech
in human form, deliciously comical, but also rather disturbing.
Although the film runs to just over one hour, Murnau manages to pack a surprisingly
large amount into it. Not content with just retelling Molière's celebrated
tale of greed and hypocrisy in a period setting, he places it within a framing story of
contemporary times, emphasising the eternal relevance of the story.
Murnau's use
of expressionist technique is less emphatic, less extravagant, than in his better known
works - the one exception being the haunting Nosferatu-like night-time sequence
in which Tartuffe's wickedness is exposed. Here, the expressionist style is used
more subtly, and arguably to greater effect, to suggest, rather than overstate, a threat
before it becomes apparent to its victim. Murnau does this twice - first in the
opening passage which introduces the old man and his housekeeper, and then subsequently
when we enter the world of Orgon and his wife. On each occasion, Murnau creates
an element of doubt in the mind of the spectator, hinting at something nasty before making
it obvious that there is indeed something nasty. It is an ingenious device which
neatly underscores the film's moral: beware hypocrites and manipulators, for they, like
the poor, are always with us.
© James Travers 2006
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