PHANTOM (1922)

Someone is happy, unlike most of the characters we meet!

Phantom

Chasing a dream

Title: Phantom
Year: 1922
Director: F. W. Murnau
Format: Blu-ray
Label: Masters of Cinema

Notes: Another early Murnau film although he had made NOSFERATU already and it's clear from the opening scenes in PHANTOM that a skilled filmmaker is at work. This is a dramatic tale of a man who suffers an accident and is then somewhat unfairly punished for it as he descends into romantic delusion before an inevitable tragedy and his eventual atonement. His disturbed state of mind allows Murnau to deploy many a dreamlike visual (helped by copious tinting) and a few impressive special effect sequences. As beautiful as the film is, there always seems to be something unsettling in Murnau's films and this is a film mostly populated with unhappy characters.

It is fun to see Murnau using the same actress to play the phantom woman and her mundane doppelganger -  a good 30 years before Hitchcock did something similar in VERTIGO.

I'm not convinced the framing device of a flashback is really needed although the bright tone at the beginning does allow us to remember things will work out OK as the despondent story grimly marches on.

Apparently this film was once considered lost - it's fantastic to see it restored and looking as good as it does on this blu-ray.