The Holy Mountain
by Arnold Fanck
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DVD details
Actor: Ernst Petersen, Frida Richard, Friedrich Schneider, Leni Riefenstahl, Luis TrenkerDirector: Arnold Fanck
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: German (Original Language); English (Unknown)
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC, Silent
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-08-12
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Kino Video
DVD Reviews of The Holy Mountain
DVD Review: the climbing's the thing
Summary: 4 Stars
Most famous now, certainly, for containing the first starring role from actress and dancer, and later director Leni Riefenstahl, this was director Arnold Fanck's second "mountain film" and in late 20s Germany perhaps it didn't really stand out amongst the many other examples, including Alfred Hitchcock's now-lost THE MOUNTAIN EAGLE released the same year. And Riefenstahl's performance isn't really enough of a reason to see the film unless one has a significant interest in her; she's not really that good, rather amateurish here, and her dancing though decent enough seems entirely of the pagan/ritualistic type and gets rather tedious after a while. But with few mountain films still surviving - and probably none in this condition, and with as famous a pedigree - this is as good an approach as any to this forgotten genre.
It's an old story, too -- the love triangle, in this case a mistaken one as Diotima (Riefenstahl) falls instantly in love with mountaineer/ski instructor Karl (Luis Trenker, magnetic and giving far and away the best performance here) only to have his younger friend Vigo (Ernst Peterson) fall for her. Tragedy is the end result, but not before we get to see an awful lot of great mountain climbing, cross-country skiing, and ski jumping footage, some of which is still spectacular today. It's the photography and action sequences that make the film worth a view, not the stilted storyline, or Riefenstahl's lengthy dance numbers. Curiously the film seems to have a rather pagan, earthy attitude towards God and nature, only to have that disrupted right at the end by a very Christian-seeming "FAITH".
The Kino DVD is quite beautiful and alternates between bluish and sepia tinting, but I have to take issue with the music, apparently scored and performed specifically for the film by a small ensemble; it's nice enough on its own but doesn't fit the Teutonic grandeur or wildness to my ears...it would have been more appropriate as a Buster Keaton or silent western score, it seemed to me. My advice is to turn down the music and crank your own Wagner, Bruckner or perhaps best of all, Mahler.
DVD Review: Its world premier on December 17, 1926
Summary: 5 Stars
Two Nitrate Copies Served as the basis for this reconstruction: one color tinted elements for the Bundesarchive/Filmarchive, Berlin, and one in black and white from Fondazion Ceneteca Italiana, Milan.
All the shots taken outdoors were actually made in the Alps over the course of six years.
This is the story of a girl dancer from the Grand H?tel Diotima (Leni Riefenstahl) loves nature and the sea "she seems almost holy!" She is lured to the mountains by Karl (Luis Trenker) and his young buddy Vigo (Ernst Petersen). Karl plans to marry Diotima and is shocked to find her stroking the head of a stranger. How could this happen? The there is a strange turn of events as Karl invites Vigo the do a little climbing on a dangerous mountain in bad weather. He has to get her out of his system somehow. Karl" You're my best friend. Come with me. We'll be mad together." Meantime Mother (Frida Richard) knows it all. Will Karl suspect it was Vigo that was being stroked? If so what will happen up there just the tow of them in isolation?
Mother confronts Diotima, "Was one man not enough for you?"
This is one of Lini's mountain series of films. Notice that the mountains and the clouds (shot in elapse time) are not filler or backdrop, but the main character in the film.
Storm Over Mont Blanc
DVD Review: The Holy Mountain
Summary: 3 Stars
This film was beautifully restored. One wouldn't imagine it's age by just watching it. One of the "end-of-era" silent films, technically impressive, and starring a woman who out-lived all her enemies, and remains one of the great film makers of the 20th century. Made long before special effects became merely technical matters, the mountain climbers in this film were the real thing, and the risk-taking boggles one's mind. Cujones for sure!DVD Review: A landmark film!
Summary: 5 Stars
Over all these years, "The Holy Mountain" explores what we might qualify as an Epic of the challenging nature, far beyond our human and titanic efforts. The eternal snows, the prominent mountains, the risky cliffs that constitute and nurture by themselves, the untamed adventure spirit for all those climbers.
The triangle of love between two men and an alluring dancer (the attractive Leni Riefensthal) is the secondary plot. What it really counts is the grandeur of nature surmounts all our sorrows, passions and everlasting loves.
The phlegmatic competition on the snow race and the allusive close ups at the theater ignite the passion by her in these two gentlemen. One of them is a mature-aged and the other is just a kid, dazzled by this radiant beauty.
This a true masterpiece of the German Cinema. A must-have for all the hard fan movie lovers.
DVD Review: A drama poem with scenes from nature
Summary: 4 Stars
The Holy Mountain is considered one of the best Bergfilms (mountain movies) ever, and the final scene "His world", in which we see the allucination of the protagonist, as he dies up high on a mountain, is an absolute masterpiece. The movie is interesting for several reasons. The dancing of Leni Riefenstahl, the new music of Aljoscha Zimmermann (a real pity the original soundtrack of Edmund Meisel has been lost), the experimentation with blue light, and the gorgeous images from the Alps. It is somewhat interesting to note that the initial dance scene (Diotima on the sea) had originally been thought for Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, something almost impossible to fathom.
Description of The Holy Mountain
Studio: Kino International Release Date: 08/12/2003 Run time: 105 minutesGeneral DVDs
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