Algol: Tragedy of Power

In my quest to better-fy the internet, I have translated a film from German that was until recently considered lost. Algol: Eine Tragödie der Macht was directed by Hans Werckmeister in 1920.

As a heads up this film is not queer in any real way (well besides the fact that expressionism speaks to me as a gay man.)

Please watch this film (a copy is posted below) and read my criticism of it.

If you speak German and you think some of my translations are shit, please gently let me know where I go wrong. It's been a while since I've done any real work with German... so yeah.



Now that  that's over, without further adieu, I present Algol: Tragedy of Power.

So did you watch it yet? Thank you if you did.

I want to preface my remarks by saying that I in fact enjoyed this film. I think it is an interesting concept with beautiful scenery.

With that in mind, this film falls flat. I like it, but I know that it misses in places.  It's a sci-fi version of Faust, which if it would have been executed properly would have been one of the best movies in history. Particularly since it pre-dates Murnau's Faust.

The scenery is fun and is often in the mode of German Expressionism.

The plot is sloppy, it lacks a consistent voice, and it overreaches at times. After Mephistopheles the demon Algol gives Faust Robert Herne the perpetual energy machine,  Algol's purpose is next to pointless.

If Herne's perpetual energy is corrupted by humanity, class consciousness, and greed, then why is Algol necessary as the devilish, working-class provocateur.  Mephistopheles is perhaps in the top 10 literary characters of all time. It is painful to see a Mephistophelean character lack purpose after the bargain. We don't get a sense of motivation from the character. Algol is just evil.

The overarching theme is luddite/ conservative. Technology corrupts; let's go back to . Modern society is decadent and will be our downfall as represent through Reginald Herne (Robert's heir) and his bitch lover Yella Ward. The motherly/ worthy of love female characters are pure (sexually speaking) and rural. However city women are cock tease whore who demand power from their men for them to feed off of. It put it more concisely, it is the old Madonna/ Whore dichotomy without any nuance, complexity or cleverness.

Finally, my favorite part of silent films is that it forces the audience to develop the story. In this vein, silent films can be more similar to a paintings than "talkies." For me, the film answers questions that it shouldn't, and it doesn't address the questions that it should.


Liam '15