Michael (1924)

The master and his model

Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
Starring Walter Slezak, Benjamin Christensen and Nora Gregor
Produced by Universum Film (UFA)

Claude Zoret is a master painter, having made a fortune off of his portraits.  His paintings are in high demand, none more than those featuring his adopted son Michael as the model.

However, there's more going on between Michael and the Master.  The way Zoret's face lights up when the young man enters the room.  The way Michael rubs the older man's feet.  The hand holding that lingers a few seconds more than a friendly greeting.

Their relationship is upended by the arrival of a destitute countess.  She's looking to bilk someone out of some money.  Zoret wants nothing to do with her, but agrees to paint her portrait.  Michael on the other hand falls for the temptress.

Zoret finishes the painting of the countess, but cannot get the eyes right.  He lets Michael try to paint the eyes and he does an expert job.  He does so well in fact that the reviews come in identifying the eyes as the only good part of the painting.

Zoret discovers his masterpiece The Victor, which he gave to his young lover as a gift, is being sold.  Michael is selling the piece to get some cash for the countess.  Rather than confront Michael, Zoret purchases the painting back and returns it to his former lover's apartment.

Will Michael return to Zoret?  Does the Master have one more painting in him?  And how far will Michael go to make a buck for his new love?

Carl Theodor Dreyer's Michael is my first introduction to the German director's oeuvre.  I have had some experience with the German expressionists, but this is a more straightforward drama.

And one I did not care for.

The story does not work very well as a love triangle story.  As I described above, Zoret and Michael's relationship is implicit, while Michael and the countess is on the back burner for much of the movie.

I think Michael is more successful as a rumination on art.  Zoret is not a successful painter until he meets and falls in love with his young model.  That passion is what inspires Zoret's pen, and when he loses Michael, he loses his muse.  However, in the end, he is able to produce his ultimate masterpiece, born not out of love, but out of suffering.  A work featuring a man lying in pain on a beach with a background of skies inspired by his sketches from Algiers, sketches completed during a trip with Michael.

What does not work is the way this story is told.  The editing is incredibly choppy in moments, followed by 90 seconds of characters giving each other knowing looks and stares.  The movie plays like Soap Opera Acting 101.  Look angry, look hurt, look confused.  Perfect!  Now, hold that for a minute.

The result is a pace that moves like a snail on Ambien moving through molasses.  The camerawork is beautiful throughout, but the tale could have been told as effectively in half the time.

Benjamin Christensen is great playing Claude Zoret.  He provides you a map of his pain and suffering throughout that grounds the story for the viewer.  The rest of the cast is unremarkable.  Walter Slezak's Michael in particular seems to exist not as an actual person, but as a concept in the movie.  You never really feel much sense of why he's doing what he is doing.

There's a subplot in the film involving another love triangle, but it is not terribly well-fleshed out and exists as a counterpoint to the central relationship.  The editing means we violently lurch into the tale and just as quickly exit it throughout the film's runtime.

Some good camera work and a fine central performance, but other than that, Michael is a chore.  Watch it for a few minutes for the sense of atmosphere, then move along.

** out of *****