The Student of Prague

Action:

Prague around 1820. The poor student Balduin sells his reflection for 100,000 gulden to the charlatan Scapinelli, hoping to use the money to participate in social life and improve his social status. His ascent is successful, and he falls in love with Countess Margit; he rejects a gypsy girl who is in love with him.

Balduin arrives too late for a duel and finds his opponent already dead. Contrary to his promise, Balduin’s reflection fought in his place and was victorious. This breach of word dishonors Balduin, causing him to lose Margit’s love, his social respect, and he becomes shunned.

He is haunted by his “other self” and, in his desperation, eventually shoots at his doppelgänger. Balduin kills himself, and Scapinelli triumphs.

*The Student of Prague* premiered on August 22, 1913, at the Mozartsaal in Berlin. The sets and costumes were designed by Klaus Richter and Rochus Gliese, and executed by Robert A. Dietrich. The story follows the tradition of German Romanticism. The film was shot in June 1913 at the Bioscop studios in Neubabelsberg, as well as at Hradčany, Belvedere Palace, Fürstenberg Palace, and Lobkowitz Palace. The double exposure shots by Guido Seeber are considered a significant step towards the German film’s departure from theater traditions, moving towards a film-specific expression.

The idea for the film came from Paul Wegener, a prominent theater actor in Max Reinhardt’s ensemble at the Deutsches Theater Berlin. Together with Rye, Seeber, and Gliese, he created the first German art film, which did not adapt a well-known literary work like the French *Film d’Art*, but gained artistic significance solely through its cinematic techniques such as decor, composition, lighting, and acting.

The film score for the premiere was composed by Josef Weiss, a student of Franz Liszt, who also performed it on the piano.

About the Music