One of the very first long feature films in film history is an amazing adaptation of Gerhart Hauptmann's novel and refers to the sinking of the "Titanic". For the visually stunning DVD release a new high definition scan was made from a restored negative, and tinting was recreated using an abbreviated version from The National Film Center in Japan. A video transfer of this version is added as well as an alternative ending for the Russian export and a fragment of an early Danish adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's play "Liebelei".
About the film
One of the most famous early European feature films, the Danish production of Atlantis is an impressive achievement for the cinema of 1913. It is hard to believe that such a sophisticated achievement was released the same year as the relatively primitive work being produced in America. It may not seem high praise to say that Atlantis looks like a film from five years later, but this is a sophisticated production for any year, and amazing for 1913.
Atlantis demonstrates that you could take the technical elements of early filmmaking- fixed camera positions, no closeups, minimal sets, outdoor photography- and create effective cinema through restrained, naturalistic acting, a linear plot and basic film grammar. While it includes a few double exposures and beautiful shots at sunset, the filmmaking is not flashy or calling attention to itself.
The protagonist in Atlantis is a doctor whose wife has been institutionalized, and decides to travel. You have no idea where the plot is going to go, so the story follows the doctor through a series of cities and contacts with people. The film is about his emotional growth, not what specifically happens to him. In the process, there are remarkable shots of Berlin as he takes a taxi ride around the city and later of New York City. If silent films are a lost art, so is the pre-World War I world of Europe and America captured by Atlantis.
From the title of the film, there is some hope that we will see the legendary underwater city. The doctor is crossing the Atlantic to America on an ocean liner when the ship hits an obstruction and begins to sink. The title reads: "In his dreams Dr. von Kammacher walks with his friend, Dr. Schmidt, through the sunken town, Atlantis." The scenes are brief, and are accomplished by a few double exposures of ghostly images walking through a village.
The sinking of the ship, obviously influenced by the Titanic disaster of 1912, is extremely well staged, and the action highlight of the film. The staging is completely believable. In the early morning light, people in their nightclothes are on deck scrambling for the lifeboats. It looks for all the world like the filmmakers sank a real ship. There is a long shot of the ship half-underwater, with people jumping for safety from the stern into the water. There are some great scenes in the lifeboat after hours on the open sea, and rescued by a passing freighter.
While the film has the upbeat ending of the novel, there is also an alternate 1 minute, 20 second unhappy ending that Nordisk made for the Russian market. The doctor and his new love still get together, but he suddenly drops dead, the girl is prostrate over him and everyone looks appropriately glum.
David Pierce, www.cinemaweb.com
The Film
Atlantis - Denmark 1913 - Directed by: August Blom - Written by: Karl-Ludwig Schrøder, Axel Garde, based on a novel by Gerhart Hauptmann - Cinematographed by: Johan Ankerstjerne - Cast: Olaf Fønss, Frederik Jacobsen , Ida Orloff, Carl Lauritzen, Ebba Thomsen Produced by: Nordisk Films Kompagni Premiere: December 20, 1913
Elskovsleg / Liebelei - Denmark 1914 - Directed by: August Blom, Holger-Madsen - Written by: Arthur Schnitzler - Cinematographed by: Marius Clausen, Johan Ankerstjerne - Cast: Valdemar Psilander, Christel Holch, Johanne Fritz-Petersen, Frederik Jacobsen, Holger Reenberg, Carl Lauritzen Produced by: Nordisk Films Kompagni Premiere: January 22, 1914
DVD Features
- Atlantis (tinted) 1913, 116'
- Alternative ending for Russia 2'
- Piano score by Robert Israel
- Chapter selection
- Atlantis (Fragment on video of the original tinted English version) 35'
- Liebelei (Fragment) 1914, 15'
- August Blom biography
Edited by: Danish Film Institute & Cinematheque
DVD Authoring: Angel DVD
DVD Supervision: Thomas Christensen, Malene Lohmann
