Bohemian rhapsody. The Organist at St. Vitus' Cathedral (1929), with Maud Nelissen, Bonn Silent Film Festival 1924

 

This is a delightful film that bears many hallmarks of late silent film technique all set against the beguiling backdrop of Prague and was streamed online with fluid magically-real accompaniment from Maud Nelissen who has provided the same service at previous screenings for San Francisco last year and HippFest this March. It was only celebrated Czech director, Martin Frič’s second feature film but already he seems entirely on top of storytelling, performance and pacing… The story is a grower that shocks us early on and then gradually winds up – boiling the audience frog – leaving us with a genuinely anxious closing ten minutes as we hope that redemption and kindness will prevail in a work that has already shown that this is hardly a guarantee. This is not Hollywood after all.

 

The film is a symphony of gothic Prague with sumptuous views across the largely still extant medieval city, a masterpiece of Bohemian style with the “City of a Hundred Spires” on view in languorous location shots that almost use the performers as a means of establishing scale. Most spectacular of all is the cathedral which, built over many centuries on an outcrop alongside the castle complex, still looms over the city to this day.

 

Having opened with rapturous views and ringing bells, we understand the pure glory the organist must feel as he moves from his humble house in the ancient wooden streets every day to play at the cathedral. Karel Hašler plays the otherwise unnamed Organist and gives an absorbing and powerful performance as you might expect given his standing as not only an actor but also as a director both on screen and on-stage, writer, musician, performer of many styles since his debut in 1897. His is the face that could sink a thousand ships; intense, brooding and yet strangely vulnerable and as with the gothic edifice that gives his life so much meaning, he too lives the most structured of lives, his discipline and artistic purpose the rigid keystones of enigmatic yet pure artistic endeavour and faith.

 

Karel Hašler

Into this life comes a very old friend and chaos threatens his very existence. Appearing at his door on one rain-sodden evening the old man is surprised to find a man (Otto Zahrádka) he believed imprisoned on his door. He invites him in but not before local chancer and part-time extortionist Josef Falk – another very fine performance from Ladislav H. Struna who shares Hašler’s brooding protean qualities and plays with a very modern style; in this case presenting as threatening but also with his essential humanity ever present, a sophisticated approach and one that enriches the narrative no end.

 

The Organists old pal is at his wit’s end with no future save incarceration and he has escaped purely to hand over what money he has along with a note to his daughter Klára (Suzanne Marwille) who knows not of his crimes and is a nun… but not without a purpose in this context. After handing over his last worldly goods the man shoots himself and drops to the floor dead; the Organist in shock hides his body in the basement but only after the watching Falk has interceded sensing opportunity and stolen the old man’s letter as collateral for bribing the shocked old man.

 

The Organist goes to tell Klára the news but he cannot bring himself to tell her of her father’s self slaughter and hands over the money leaving her alone with her thoughts. Klára’s grief makes her leave the monastery and she goes to live with the Organist, cleaning up his house and winning him over: she has apparently exchanged one Father, possibly two, for another and the two form a new bond as she re-enters the secular world.

 

Suzanne Marwille

Now, in these kinds of circumstances, there’s usually a rich-boy painter spotting supernatural beauty with eagle eyes and a ready easel and so it proves with Ivan (Oscar Marion) who first spots Klára's beauty as he stands on his horse staring at her in eth grounds of the monastery and is delighted to find her in the twisty gothic streets he is painting near the Cathedral. Now, if the Organist and the Extortionist are portrayed in forceful naturalistic ways, the two potential lovers are – initially at least – more idealised, she intense grace and supernatural longing and he almost comedic in his lustful and artistic ways. Both represent archetypes and objects of desire whether as potential lovers but also as pure idealists who will have to face cruel reality at some point.

 

This process happens gently at first and there’s a lovely sequence when Klára goes shopping and Ivan sets off in pursuit. She buys a still-wriggling fish from a vendor as he loiters with artistic intent and when she drops it on her way home, he struggles to pick up the poor wriggling creature but manages to take it back to her house, keenly expecting some romantic reward.

 

From this point onwards though, the film turns darker as the Organist’s attempt to protect the young woman is threatened by Falk’s increasingly desperate attempts to extract money from him. Will new love save the day or is the Organist doomed by his own decency especially after an altercation with Falk leaves his right hand paralysed and he can no longer play the music that is his life… If it were German or especially French, the film might take a different course but you’ll have to see it for yourself for the genuinely tense closing sequence and, good luck!

Bridges as well as towers in Prague

I must mention the cinematography of Jaroslav Blažek who not only captures the city but also the intricate workings of the performers in frequent close-ups, bits of Dreyer here and Germans too in the darkened, naturally lit street scenes. There’s also frequent overlays showing the inner conflicts, the bells clanging over the city in faith and hope and transitions from closed to open spaces that would be breath-taking on the big screen.

 

The form also benefits from Maud Nelissen’s melodic and subtle accompaniment that switched effortlessly between the diegetic sounds of the organ and the narrative emotions we’re all experiencing “outside of the film”. She is very good at getting to the heart of a film like this and has scale as well as intricate emotionalism to flavour the film’s approach.

 

All in all, a cracking start to this year’s viewing of Bonn online - details here, be quick only days to go, the streaming continues until 21st August and films only stay online for three days, enjoy them whilst you can! Once again I failed to make time to go in persona nd once again I can only thank the Festival for streaming some of the content. A wonderful film, I hope to see it in the celluloid soon!!

Oscar Marion