A general descends a staircase and walks over to a waiting horse-drawn carriage. He is secretly observed by a soldier (wearing a hat with a feather in it) who crouches down at the staircase (in the foreground). / Garden of a prestigious house. On a spacious patio, the soldier (?) hugs his beloved one, observed by the general (?) (in the background) [frame scans 1, 2]. They notice him. He climbs over the balustrade leaving behind his beloved one.
Jeanpaul Goergen, Deutsche Kinemathek, 3.10.2008
I think this shot is something from Stellan Rye. Note the Edvard Munch-like framing of the shot with the general facing the camera in the background and the couple at stage right, and the interest in intersecting architecture and people. Why does the student in the Student of Prague climb up the transom and teeter on the edge of the outside balcony to spy on his double when he simply could have taken the stairs and looked in the window? Because of the expressionist visual effect that the scene has and it's potential for strong archictectonic angles. I think the same kind of creative forces are at play in this scene. Plus the frivolous character of a soldier who wears his uniform with a silly hat and a feather sticking out of it who kisses his girl in full sight of the general is like a character in a Ewers novel. The uniforms, however, are echt-German Army in 1914.There is even the upward projection on the general's helmet that they got rid of before the end of the war because it was dangerous; you could knock a rifle butt into it and make a German officer fall from his horse.
David Lewis, 14.03.2010
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