''Erotikon'' is a 1929 silent

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sculp ...

melodrama film In film studies and criticism, melodrama may variously refer to a genre, mode, style or sensibility characterized by its emphasis on intense and exaggerated emotions and heightened dramatic situations. There is no fixed definition of the term an ...

by Czech director

Gustav Machatý Gustav Machatý (9 May 1901 – 13 December 1963) was a Czech film director, screenwriter and actor. He directed films in Czechoslovakia, the United States, and Germany, including '' Erotikon'' and '' Ecstasy''. Life He was born Augustín O ...

based on a screenplay by

Vítězslav Nezval Vítězslav Nezval (; 26 May 1900 – 6 April 1958) was a Czechs, Czech poet, writer and translator. He was one of the most prolific avant-garde Czech writers in the first half of the 20th century and a co-founder of the Surrealism, Surrealist ...

Production

The shooting started in November 1928. Exterior scenes were shot in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

and

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; , formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is located at the confluence of the Ohře and Teplá (river), Teplá ri ...

. Machatý and his cinematographer Václav Vích used modern American lenses making the image very soft. Production designers were

Julius von Borsody Julius von Borsody (8 April 1892 in Vienna – 18 January 1960, also in Vienna) was an Austrian film architect and one of the most employed set designers in the Austrian and German cinemas of the late silent and early sound film periods. His youn ...

and

Alexandr Hackenschmied Alexandr Hackenschmied, born Alexander Siegfried George Hackenschmied, known later as Alexander Hammid (17 December 1907 – 26 July 2004), was a Czechs, Czech-American photographer, film director, cinematographer and film editor. He immigrate ...

Cast

Olaf Fjord Olaf Fjord (born Ämilian Maximilian Pouch; 3 August 1897 – 19 April 1945) was an Austrian actor, film director and film producer. Selected filmography * '' Der Herzog von Reichstadt'' (1920) * '' Monna Vanna'' (1922) * '' The Ragpicker of Par ...

as George Sydney, a travelling seducer *

Ita Rina Tamara Đorđević (born Italina Lida Kravanja; 7 July 1907 – 10 May 1979), known professionally as Ita Rina, was a Slovenian film actress and beauty queen. She was one of the major film stars in Germany and Czechoslovakia in the late 1920s and ...

as Andrea, an innocent girl *

Karel Schleichert Karel may refer to: People * Karel (given name) * Karel (surname) * Charles Karel Bouley (born 1962), American talk radio personality known on air as Karel * Christiaan Karel Appel (1921–2006), Dutch painter and sculptor Business * Karel Elec ...

as Andrea's father, the railway crossing keeper * Theodor Pištěk as Hilbert *

Charlotte Susa Charlotte Susa (1 March 1898 – 28 July 1976) was a German actress. Biography Susa was born Charlotta Wegmüller in Gut Gaußen (now part of Kretingalė), East Prussia and first appeared on a stage in 1915 at Tilsit. She chose her mother's mai ...

as Gilda *

Luigi Serventi Luigi Serventi (31 July 1885 – 18 August 1976) was an Italian film actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional ...

as Jan

Release

The premiere was held in

on 27 February 1929. The movie was praised by critics for its Soviet-style montage and visual storytelling through symbolic imagery; however, most journalists criticised its weak story.

Versions

In 1933 Czech and German sound versions were made with the music by Erno Košťál. Both versions were substantially cut. The movie was reconstructed by

Czech Film Archive The National Film Archive (, abb. NFA) is a film archive located in Prague, Czech Republic. It was established in 1943 (From 1943 to 1945 known as Filmový archiv, from 1945 to 1989 Československý filmový ústav, then from 1990 to 1992 Český f ...

in 1994 with new chamber music by

Jan Klusák Jan Klusák (born 18 April 1934 in Prague as Jan Porges) is a contemporary Czech composer, author of film, television and incidental music. Life Klusák was born to a Czech Jewish family, who owned a farm in Prosek, Prague. After he graduated ...

. Klusák composed alternative music score for full orchestra in 1995.

References

External links

*
Erotikon (1929)
full film (

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

) at

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

1929 films Czech erotic drama films Czech silent feature films 1929 drama films Czech black-and-white films 1920s melodrama films 1920s erotic drama films Silent drama films {{1920s-silent-drama-film-stub