Tartuffe

F. W. Murnau's silent adaptation of Molière's play. The idea has two layers. In the outer story an old man's housekeeper has designs on his fortune and is about to poison him. His grandson notices, and gets into the house disguised as a travelling film exhibitor. Then he shows them a film: Tartuffe. The inner story is Molière's text. A wealthy man named Orgon falls under the influence of the pious-seeming Tartuffe and prepares to sign over everything he has. Orgon's wife Elmire tries to prove the man's hypocrisy. So what the film does is make the housekeeper of the outer story watch the swindler of the inner one. Murnau's visual language is the real strength: the use of shadow, the movement of the camera, and space carrying a psychological state. Emil Jannings plays Tartuffe and Lil Dagover plays Elmire. Karl Freund is the cinematographer. The production brings together significant figures of German expressionist cinema. A valuable work for anyone who likes silent cinema and adaptations of classics. For a viewer expecting the whole play, the film shortens the text considerably and reduces the number of characters.