The Hands of Orlac (1928)

I watched THE HANDS OF ORLAC on TMC, when they featured at least three, maybe four movies dealing with the subject of hands. The first was HANDS OF A STRANGER, which is based on this silent film. However, when I recorded THE HANDS OF ORLAC, I hadn't realized that is was a silent film. I find them to be very slow and plodding, which this film was. However, it was also very confusing. There was one character, introduced early in the film, interacting with the maid; but, we didn't know who he was; and, I won't spoil it for anyone. But, the dialog just didn't make sense in the context of the film. The cinematography, especially during the scene with the train was very impressive; but, after that the lighting was inconsistent and very dark. The plot was fairly linear; but, there were a number of jump cuts that seemed jolting. The idea of transplanting human body parts seems very much ahead of its time, just as The Modern Promethius was ahead of its time. It was a good watch; but, it was a long two hours.

The pianist Paul Orlac (Conrad Veidt) is on tour and his wife Yvonne Orlac (Alexandra Sorina) anxiously waits for his return. While traveling back home, there is a train wreck at Montgeron and Orlac is very injured in both hands in the accident.Yvonne begs to Dr. Serral (Hans Homma) to save his hands that are his life. Meanwhile, the robber and murderer Vasseur that claims that is innocent is sentenced to death since the police investigator had found his fingerprints everywhere near the victim. Dr. Serral transplants Vasseur's hands in Orlac and when he recovers, he feels that there is something wrong with his hands.Orlac asks the surgeon about the hands and learns that he belonged to a criminal, and Orlac decides to never touch Yvonne again with those hands. His family becomes poor since he is not working anymore and Yvonne pays a visit to her father-in-law (Fritz Strassny) to ask for help. However, Orlac's father is a cruel man and does not help her. When Orlac returns home, Yvonne asks him to visit his father and when he arrives at his house, he finds his father dead. They call the police and they find Vasseur's fingerprint everywhere. Orlac is the only heir of his father fortune but sooner he is followed by a stranger named Nera (Fritz Kortner) that blackmails him and demands a small fortune. Orlac is not sure that he had killed his father and goes with Yvonne to the police. Sooner they discover a secret about Vasseur."Orlacs Hände" is a Gothic and dark German Expressionist film with an unbelievable plot (but who matters?) but wonderful theatrical performances like in most silent classics and perfect use of shadows in a gloomy atmosphere. The music score fits perfectly to the film and this is the first time that I watch this little masterpiece. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "As Mãos de Orlac" ("The Hands of Orlac")

A famous pianist (Conrad Veidt) has his hands crushed in a train accident, and he receives new ones through an experimental transplant. But whose hands were they before? The hands of a killer!This is a rather long film, probably more than it needs to be. The train wreck shots are beautiful, but go on a while, with the story being relatively simple.The focus here is more on Orlac's mental state, and less on the others in any way, with the love affair angle of "Mad Love" (its remake) completely absent. For fans of "Mad Love", this picture needs to be respected, as they clearly borrowed scenes (noticeably where Orlac meets his donor), but "Mad Love" is the superior film in many ways.

I must say I was pretty disappointed while watching this one. It's one of the classic movies from the age of German Expressionism, but I cannot call this a masterpiece. Wiene was a director of remarkable "Kabinett des Doktor Caligari" and "Orlacs Hände" doesn't seem to be as successful as this great picture. The action is quite interesting, acting is very good, idea is inspiring but it's also very naive. Specially the ending was too childish and I found myself hard to believe in it. But, I should also admit that Wiene's movie has some kind of intriguing atmosphere, which makes the whole thing worth watching. If you're enthusiastic to German cinema of the decade you should watch this one, but don't expect too much.