(Die Bergkatze, Ernst Lubitsch, Germany 1921, 79 min., DCP)
Years before his iconic “touch” was established, Ernst Lubitsch directed this broad farce about the military-and-marriage complex starring Polish emigré Pola Negri. Rischka (Negri), the daughter of a gang of robbers high in the snowy mountains of Germany, is a real wildcat and runs her father’s gang with ruthlessness. When Lieutenant Alexis (Paul Heidemann) is transferred to the nearby fort, thanks to some romantic complications, Rischka attacks him and steals his clothes. When he finally arrives at the fort, the commander’s daughter takes an interest in him, but he can’t stop thinking about Rischka. Lubitsch injects a ton of style into the film (including an extravagant Deco-Weimar celebration) and uses several mattes to change the shape of the image on the screen, subtly changing the proscenium of the image and influencing its mood.
DCP from Murnau-Stiftung.
Introduction and live piano accompaniment by Philip Carli.
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