The Holy Mountain
by Arnold Fanck
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ernst Petersen, Frida Richard, Friedrich Schneider, Leni Riefenstahl, Luis TrenkerDirector: Arnold Fanck
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: German (Original Language); English (Unknown)
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC, Silent
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-08-12
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Kino Video
Movie Reviews of The Holy Mountain
Movie Review: the climbing's the thing
Summary: 4 Stars
Most famous now, certainly, for containing the first starring role from actress and dancer, and later director Leni Riefenstahl, this was director Arnold Fanck's second "mountain film" and in late 20s Germany perhaps it didn't really stand out amongst the many other examples, including Alfred Hitchcock's now-lost THE MOUNTAIN EAGLE released the same year. And Riefenstahl's performance isn't really enough of a reason to see the film unless one has a significant interest in her; she's not really that good, rather amateurish here, and her dancing though decent enough seems entirely of the pagan/ritualistic type and gets rather tedious after a while. But with few mountain films still surviving - and probably none in this condition, and with as famous a pedigree - this is as good an approach as any to this forgotten genre.
It's an old story, too -- the love triangle, in this case a mistaken one as Diotima (Riefenstahl) falls instantly in love with mountaineer/ski instructor Karl (Luis Trenker, magnetic and giving far and away the best performance here) only to have his younger friend Vigo (Ernst Peterson) fall for her. Tragedy is the end result, but not before we get to see an awful lot of great mountain climbing, cross-country skiing, and ski jumping footage, some of which is still spectacular today. It's the photography and action sequences that make the film worth a view, not the stilted storyline, or Riefenstahl's lengthy dance numbers. Curiously the film seems to have a rather pagan, earthy attitude towards God and nature, only to have that disrupted right at the end by a very Christian-seeming "FAITH".
The Kino DVD is quite beautiful and alternates between bluish and sepia tinting, but I have to take issue with the music, apparently scored and performed specifically for the film by a small ensemble; it's nice enough on its own but doesn't fit the Teutonic grandeur or wildness to my ears...it would have been more appropriate as a Buster Keaton or silent western score, it seemed to me. My advice is to turn down the music and crank your own Wagner, Bruckner or perhaps best of all, Mahler.
Summary of The Holy Mountain
Studio: Kino International Release Date: 08/12/2003 Run time: 105 minutesArt House & International DVD Video
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