Acting
Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen's legendary film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages suffered the same hysteria as turn-of-the-century psychiatric patients. But the film itself is far from serious-- instead it's a witches' brew of the scary, gross, and darkly humorous.
Pat and Patachon live in the attic of an old house along with a number of other curious kinds of people. One of the residents is a fortune teller, who tells Patachon that he will inherit a fortune and marry one of the two sweet choir girls who live next door, and whom he happens to be in love with. The two friends don’t think much more of it and instead head off to work, as models for a tailor. They stroll through the streets in sharp suits, in the hopes that the two choir girls will see them and think that they’re wealthy men, who simply live in the run-down house to study the bohemian lifestyle.
The action begins one early summer morning in a hostel, where we see, among others, two young girls, a law student, Ruth, and a small office lady, Ilse. From their conversation, we understand that Ilse has a very bourgeois outlook on life. By chance, these two girls come across one of Ruth's fellow students, Pontus Berthelsen, who is spending the summer holidays in a fisherman's cabin. Ilse, who has little world experience, quickly takes an interest in Pontus, who possesses a lot of innate charm. Pontus does his best to conquer Ilse, but her bourgeois attitude means - at first - that she does not fall for his rather deft approaches.
When Pat and Patachon arrive in the small fishing village at the North Sea they are completely unaware of the adventure that lies ahead. The two eccentric travelers quickly become good friends with old Maren and her son Tom, who will soon need their help in more than one respect. (stumfilm.dk)
Although Danish-American George Steffenson comes from poor circumstances, he has built a large financial empire, where the money rolls in. But the busy life is wearing on George, and when no medicine helps, he goes to Denmark on vacation, where no one knows him and he may find the true values of life. But it is no easy matter to turn your back on the empire, while sneaky backers are making insidious plans.
There is great confusion in the director's home. The confusion overwhelms the couple when the young housekeeper turns out to be the director's daughter and the older one her mother. It can only go wrong, and it gives reason to send an excited and upset Olga Svendsen onto the field.
