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Synopsis :
How typical of the great German director F. W. Murnau that
he used Moliere's scathing satirical comedy Tartuffe as a launching pad
for an extended exercise in expressionism. Emil Jannings plays the
title character, a religious hypocrite who capitalizes upon the piety of
others to line his own pockets. Lusting after Elmire (Lil Dagover), the
daughter of gullible millionaire Orgon (Werner Krauss), Tartuffe all
but convinces Orgon to hand over Elmire -- and all his land holdings --
on a silver platter in exchange for Divine absolution. On the verge of
triumphantly taking over Orgon's mansion and tossing the old man out,
Tartuffe is foiled by the deux ex machina arrival of an emissary of the
King, who arrests the "hero" for his chicanery (this final scene was
imposed upon Moliere by the French censors; originally, Tartuffe got
away with his crimes). In his efforts to make the property more
cinematic, Murnau adds a framing story concerning an old woman who tries
to cheat an old man out of a fortune while the two of them watch a
theatrical performance of the Moliere play. Chock full of offbeat camera
angles, forced-perspective sets, and spiderlike shadows, Tartuff owes
more to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari than it does to Moliere. Emil
Jannings went on to collaborate with Murnau in the director's next
production, a lavish adaptation of Goethe's Faust. Hal Erickson
Title : Tartuffe
Original title : Her Tartüff
Ano : 1925
Directed : F.W. Murnau
Duration : 74 min.
Original card : English
Subtitles : Spanish, Portuguese
Genres : Drama, Comedy
Country : United States
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