"Phantom" is a German 2-hour film from almost 95 years ago directed by European silent film legend Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau/Plumpe. It is one of his longer films in terms of runtime, but not one of his most famous really. Admittedly, it is still somewhat known and also not one of his least famous works. But it's very mediocre for the most part. The actors include a couple solid names, but big stars are not included in the cast here and the story is not too convincing either. The genre is certainly something else compared to Murnau's films usually being about horror or mystery, so this is maybe the only reason that makes this film worth a watch. Sadly, the material is far from sufficient for a film that runs for 120 minutes.Apart from that, it is the usual: black-and-white, silent and could have needed a lot more intertitles. It is based on a novel by Gerhart Hauptmann and the one who adapted it is Thea von Harbou, Fritz Lang's longtime collaborator. Sadly, all these big names did not result in a great or even good film. Actually, the outcome is very much forgettable from start to finish and that is why I give it a thumbs-down. Only worth checking out for the most hardcore silent film fans.

Hot off his formidable achievement with "Nosferatu", F.W. Murnau made another expressionistic film, "Phantom". This one depicts Lorenz (Alfred Abel), a clerk who becomes obsessed with a woman (Lya De Putti) who accidentally struck him with a carriage. The movie contains some neat effects to highlight Lorenz's descent into madness. There are of course the buildings, but even more impressive is the ghostly carriage that emerges from a black void. A short documentary about the production makes note of how Murnau accomplished these interesting tricks.One might call "Phantom" a precursor to "The Blue Angel" and "Lolita", but I wouldn't call that totally accurate. The latter two are more straightforward about their subject matter, while this one is deliberately surreal and dreamlike. But no matter how you interpret "Phantom", you can't deny that it is a very good representation of inter-war German cinema. The movie is a little slow at times, but definitely worth seeing.

If I remember correctly, it was Peter Greenaway who wrote a few years ago that in the near future one will be able to make films about how somebody thinks and not only about what somebody does. When this time will be here, one should remember F.W. Murnau's "Phantom" (1922) which does exactly what Greenaways was speaking about. Lorenz Lubota is a little scribe, likes books and would like to be a poet. One day, on his way to work, he is hit by a carriage. In this moment, he sees Veronika, the daughter of a rich merchant, and chases from now on her picture like a phantom. It fills up his whole thinking and feeling. He even goes to her parents' house in order to ask for her hand. After he is thrown out, he stops working, neglects his belongings and sinks deeper and deeper in despair. I cannot remember whether anyone else in the "silent" time has made more appropriate use of tinting in order to show the inside of a person than Murnau did. By chance, Lorenz meets Melitta who looks like a twin of Veronika. However, she cheats on him and demands money which he does not have. So he steals it and even lies to his aunt, whom he tells that he needs the money for having his poesies printed as books. Not long after, his aunts finds out about the truth and threatens to turn him in to the police. So, one night, Lorenz and one of his new colleagues break into the house of the aunt. When they are caught by her, the colleague kills her. Lorenz goes to prison as an accessory. When he is released, the daughter of his former boss waits for him, telling him that she always loved him. Besides the unrealistic and rather fairy-tale-like end, this movie shows many motives that Murnau would use in the subsequent year when he shot "Nosferatu". One could say that in "Phantom", he filmed the imaginary world, whereas in "Nosferatu", he projected this imaginary world as a substrate of abyss-less gore into the outside world. However, one could also say that Lorenz, at the end, is rightfully awarded by a loving wife because he belonged to the very few people who really believed in a phantom and even gave up his whole existence for it. And simply the fact that a phantom can exist in our real brain proves its reality, isn't that so?

Enjoyed this silent film from 1922 with great German directors and plenty of talented people. This story starts out with a family consisting of two brothers, sister and a mother who are not very well off and the sister hates her life and gets in a fight with her mother and she turns to the streets and the fast lane in life. Lorenz Lubota, (Alfred Abel) is one of the brothers who loves to read books and is also a poet and works as a clerk for the city. One day Lorenz was walking in the street and a blonde girl is driving a chariot and runs him down, the girl checks to see that he is okay but Lorenz immediately falls in love with this girl. After this event in Lorenz's life he completely goes crazy and his life changes for the worst and he gets involved with money that does not belong to him. Grete Berger gives a great supporting role as a pawnbroker, Schwabe. Enjoy