The Hands of Orlac

1924 [GERMAN]

Action / Crime / Horror / Mystery / Sci-Fi / Thriller

9
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 79% · 11 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 79% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.0/10 10 3810 3.8K

murder pianist transplant silent film torment train wreck

Plot summary

A world-famous pianist loses both hands in an accident. When new hands are grafted on, he is horrified to learn they once belonged to a murderer.

Director

Robert Wiene Photo
Robert Wiene

Top cast

Conrad Veidt Photo
Conrad Veidt as Paul Orlac
Fritz Kortner Photo
Fritz Kortner as Nera
Alexandra Sorina Photo
Alexandra Sorina as Yvonne Orlac
Fritz Strassny Photo
Fritz Strassny as Der alle Orlac
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
867.09 MB
970*720
German 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
21.978 fps
1 hr 34 min
Seeds ...
1.57 GB
1424*1056
German 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
21.978 fps
1 hr 34 min
Seeds 4

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Bunuel1976 7 / 10

THE HANDS OF ORLAC (Robert Wiene, 1924) ***

I'm glad I had this chance to check out yet another German Expressionist classic – even if I had to make do with faint Spanish subtitles over the original German intertitles (then again, the narrative is easy enough to follow)! It took me some time to warm up to the film: the pace is extremely sluggish (the aftermath of the train-wreck at the beginning seemed interminable), while the all-important decision to exchange the damaged hands of famed concert pianist Orlac with those of a murderer felt too abrupt.In preparation for this review, I re-read Michael Elliott's comments on the film: while I generally concur with his opinion, at this stage I wouldn't put this above the 1935 Karl Freund/Peter Lorre/Colin Clive remake MAD LOVE (Ted Healy's intrusive comedy relief, to me, is just about the only negative element in that film – while adding Dr. Gogol's obsessive yearning for Orlac's wife, hence the new title). Still, I was surprised by how much the later film actually followed the Silent version – especially the two scenes in which Orlac meets the 'executed' murderer – of the Maurice Renard story; another remake appeared in 1960, co-starring Christopher Lee and which I watched on Italian TV not too long ago but already can hardly remember anything about it! Conrad Veidt's lanky figure and stylized approach to acting perfectly suited the requirements of the leading role (his posture generally echoing that of Cesare the Somnambulist in the same director's THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI [1919]); the expressionist sets were also notable but the film's style is generally an internalized one in that it deals primarily with Orlac's state of mind filming him in tight shots whenever possible. However, the avant-garde score which accompanied the Grapevine Video edition I watched was a matter of taste – featuring a female vocalist who frequently attempted to simulate the various characters' emotions with an annoying array of wails, shrieks and faint whispers! It's unfortunate, too, that the backlog I have of unwatched films on DVD doesn't permit me to check out the Kino edition of CALIGARI for the moment – especially since it contains a lengthy condensed version of another intriguing Wiene title, GENUINE: A TALE OF A VAMPIRE (1920)…
Reviewed by AlsExGal 7 / 10

an important step in the transition from arthouse Expressionism to the techniques of film noir

Director Robert Wiene and star Conrad Veidt reteam for this Austrian horror suspense drama. Veidt plays Paul Orlac, a famous concert pianist who gets severely injured in a train crash. Dr. Serral (Hans Homma) tries an experimental technique wherein he grafts the hands of a dead man onto Orlac's arms, and the surgery is a success, but afterward, when Orlac learns that the hands belonged to an executed murderer, he starts to lose his mind, believing that the hands are commanding him to kill again. Also featuring Alexandra Sorina, Fritz Strassny, Paul Askonas, Carmen Cartellieri, and Fritz Kortner.Wiene continues to use Expressionistic techniques and visual schemes, but they are toned down, and used to accentuate the narrative rather than overwhelming the proceedings. The film marks an important step in the transition from purely arthouse Expressionism to the techniques used in the visual language of film noir. Veidt gives an intense, tortured performance, although Kortner pales in comparison to the later remake Mad Love and Peter Lorre's take on the character. Most sources list this as being roughly 90 minutes, but the version I watched was 113 minutes. I felt that could have been trimmed down a bit, as some scenes dragged. That being said, I enjoyed the film quite a bit, and the cinematography was beautiful.
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