The Wandering Image (1920) - full transcript
Mia May has surrendered herself to a disciple of free love, and, having given birth to a child, marries the twin brother and Doppelgänger of her chosen lover.
This nitrate copy of The Wandering Image,
a film by Fritz Lang, was found in Brazil
and restored by the Cinemateca de Sao Paulo.
I must say I never had the satisfaction
of knowing your late cousin,
much less his wife, either.
Through broad fields.
A telegram for Irmgard Vanderheit.
Irmgard Vanderheit,
The widow of George Vanderheit?
"Irmgard Vanderheit, if you think
you can escape
you are wrong."
John
Send this telegram for me with the urgent note
enclosed and the rest of the money
is for you for your efforts.
H. Marcus
Munich
"Suspend temporarly the issue
with Irmgard Vanderheit.
Greetings"
Wil Brand
The carriage for Lady Karen Svenden.
Oh! I've just given
the room that was reserved
to this lady to other guests.
If Your Excellency will allow, I will
put the room that was reserved for me
at your disposal.
There is still a free room,
on the other side of the lake
if you want to go there.
It's the old monk that is ringing.
It is always a bad omen.
My name is John Vanderheit.
The widow of George Vanderheit
- Wife of George Vanderheit?
Sir, can't you see that my wife
has a mental disorder
and I really need to find her,
no matter what?
Dear Lady, I have no right
to meddle in your
private affairs, but if you need protection
don't hesitate to ask.
A monstrous man
just asked for your Excellency,
so I came to you immediately.
Can I help you?
Nothing can help me in any way.
How can I escape destiny?
You need to go immediately,
because he is already
crossing the lake, and you can
only escape through the mountains.
I'm forever grateful for your help.
Do you think I'm lying? Then look for yourself!
I'm looking for the road to
escape from the storm.
No one can show you a
way he does not know.
Do you think I'm lying? Then look for yourself
and see if you can find anyone inside.
The key to this cabinet?
I don't know where is it.
I lost it, for the love of God.
Sir, do you think I hid
your wife inside?
Do you want to go though this alone?
Whoever wants to
go on this walk must first
meditate for a week.
Now you go forward
and then turn left
to arrive at the stone
statue, but be careful
because up there they are working in the quarrys
For the construction of the new road.
Where is my wife!?
Wait, you fiend, I'll show you
a thing or two!
Do you want me to thrash him,
Rita?
And her alone in this fog,
here in the mountains?
Holy Mary in the snow
Can you help me?
Always go to your left. On the right
you'll go to the quarry
where they are dynamiting rocks now.
Shrouded in fog.
One more step and I'll
throw myself over the edge.
We don't have time to reach the village
before nightfall. Let us find shelter
in the first hut we find, since
the weather is threatening.
What a strange ringing of bells.
There is a very old legend
regarding that.
The inhabitants of the area say that
it's Death that makes the bells
ring. Nobody knows where they are.
We are trapped by the cave-in!
You ... George!
Yes... it is I, George!
Shadows of the past
I was just searching for a
house that put
an advertisement saying they needed
a servant because I need to earn living
to take care of my old mother.
I placed that advertisement.
My search for a wife has brought me countless
problems. Would you like to be my assistant?
From common work comes
common thinking, and one day...
I can't destroy all my work like that
if you want to be my wife
in free love, meaning,
by God and my conscience, but
not by law.
Promise me just one thing:
That my mother will never know.
The new relatives.
First he wants to change the
organizations of the world
and now suddenly this marriage.
And time went by.
George, you know that until
today I was faithfull
to your way of thinking. But now
it's not only about me.
It's for our son, George. Let me be your wife
also in law.
Can the woman that loves me
demand that I abandon
my beliefs?
Our son will suffer for your vanity
as much as I will.
A secret meeting
And then a letter.
The discovery.
But do you want to contradict
something I saw
with my own eyes?
The news about the death.
Funeral Notices
Missing for a few days is the well known
scholar and philosopher
George Vanderheit.
His coat was found in a boat
drifiting in the waves
in the lagoon. We can infer
he was a victim
of a disaster, and most likely drowned.
I will not return to the world before you,
stone statue,
start walking.
It was natural landslide - a stone rolled
down and trapped us in this cave-in.
We must wait for someone
to come and rescue us.
For now the cabin will hold but
if another lanslide comes...
I thank God that you are still live and that I
can still live so you know the truth.
I don't want you to think that I am a crook
and that I didn't have the means
to support you and the child in
the future.
You cannot imagine how much I suffered
the day your will was read
Two years had already passed and your death
was already obvious.
I leave all my estate
to my legitimate wife,
Irmgard Vanderheit, n?e Svensen,
whom I married
in the Church of Saint Nicholas
on the 5th of August
of the current year.
You can find the proof
of my marriage
in the archives of the
Church of Saint Nicholas
It was when that I knew about
the consequences of my action
and I began my ascension
to Calvary, but I had your death
on my conscience.
Do you think I'll continue
with this farce?
You made me a criminal and now you
present yourself as innocent.
John, almost daily he forced himself
on me, and one day...
You think that because one day
I was conveniently there
I am forced to watch your every step?
Luck let me find you
and I properly treated you as
my sister-in-law...
Irmgard is insane.
And to escape John's persecution of me,
I tried to run away using my family name,
so I could rest in peace
I took my son to my mother's home.
On my way there I got a telegram from John,
saying I could not escape his claws.
The rest you already know.
Won't you forgive me?
A second landslide covers them further.
I'll see if I can catch
that bandit. You go to the cabin.
On the way back, with his back turned.
Return to the world with me, George,
and we will start a new life.
I won't return to the world until that
stone virgin starts walking,
I made this vow and I will fulfill it.
I entrust to you a saved soul
and I hope you know how to take
care of her.
Irmgard sent for her mother
and son to join her in
the mountains.
If you weren't the wife of the
late George Vanderheit
who, in his will, didn't reveal his marriage,
all his fortune
would have gone to me.
So it was my fault that you cease to be
the legitimite heir?
Can I deny this pleasure to the man,
who saved my life?
Dear God, what am I to do?
Do you have the right not to help a woman in
the greatest of her trials?
If you are in fact the Holy Mary, as
people call you
then release me from my vow.
The Angel of the Poor
A storm at the mountain.
Give me this innocent. I will take better care of him
than you who have no means.
And she came down to the field.
Holy Mary in the snow.
After the storm
THE END
a film by Fritz Lang, was found in Brazil
and restored by the Cinemateca de Sao Paulo.
I must say I never had the satisfaction
of knowing your late cousin,
much less his wife, either.
Through broad fields.
A telegram for Irmgard Vanderheit.
Irmgard Vanderheit,
The widow of George Vanderheit?
"Irmgard Vanderheit, if you think
you can escape
you are wrong."
John
Send this telegram for me with the urgent note
enclosed and the rest of the money
is for you for your efforts.
H. Marcus
Munich
"Suspend temporarly the issue
with Irmgard Vanderheit.
Greetings"
Wil Brand
The carriage for Lady Karen Svenden.
Oh! I've just given
the room that was reserved
to this lady to other guests.
If Your Excellency will allow, I will
put the room that was reserved for me
at your disposal.
There is still a free room,
on the other side of the lake
if you want to go there.
It's the old monk that is ringing.
It is always a bad omen.
My name is John Vanderheit.
The widow of George Vanderheit
- Wife of George Vanderheit?
Sir, can't you see that my wife
has a mental disorder
and I really need to find her,
no matter what?
Dear Lady, I have no right
to meddle in your
private affairs, but if you need protection
don't hesitate to ask.
A monstrous man
just asked for your Excellency,
so I came to you immediately.
Can I help you?
Nothing can help me in any way.
How can I escape destiny?
You need to go immediately,
because he is already
crossing the lake, and you can
only escape through the mountains.
I'm forever grateful for your help.
Do you think I'm lying? Then look for yourself!
I'm looking for the road to
escape from the storm.
No one can show you a
way he does not know.
Do you think I'm lying? Then look for yourself
and see if you can find anyone inside.
The key to this cabinet?
I don't know where is it.
I lost it, for the love of God.
Sir, do you think I hid
your wife inside?
Do you want to go though this alone?
Whoever wants to
go on this walk must first
meditate for a week.
Now you go forward
and then turn left
to arrive at the stone
statue, but be careful
because up there they are working in the quarrys
For the construction of the new road.
Where is my wife!?
Wait, you fiend, I'll show you
a thing or two!
Do you want me to thrash him,
Rita?
And her alone in this fog,
here in the mountains?
Holy Mary in the snow
Can you help me?
Always go to your left. On the right
you'll go to the quarry
where they are dynamiting rocks now.
Shrouded in fog.
One more step and I'll
throw myself over the edge.
We don't have time to reach the village
before nightfall. Let us find shelter
in the first hut we find, since
the weather is threatening.
What a strange ringing of bells.
There is a very old legend
regarding that.
The inhabitants of the area say that
it's Death that makes the bells
ring. Nobody knows where they are.
We are trapped by the cave-in!
You ... George!
Yes... it is I, George!
Shadows of the past
I was just searching for a
house that put
an advertisement saying they needed
a servant because I need to earn living
to take care of my old mother.
I placed that advertisement.
My search for a wife has brought me countless
problems. Would you like to be my assistant?
From common work comes
common thinking, and one day...
I can't destroy all my work like that
if you want to be my wife
in free love, meaning,
by God and my conscience, but
not by law.
Promise me just one thing:
That my mother will never know.
The new relatives.
First he wants to change the
organizations of the world
and now suddenly this marriage.
And time went by.
George, you know that until
today I was faithfull
to your way of thinking. But now
it's not only about me.
It's for our son, George. Let me be your wife
also in law.
Can the woman that loves me
demand that I abandon
my beliefs?
Our son will suffer for your vanity
as much as I will.
A secret meeting
And then a letter.
The discovery.
But do you want to contradict
something I saw
with my own eyes?
The news about the death.
Funeral Notices
Missing for a few days is the well known
scholar and philosopher
George Vanderheit.
His coat was found in a boat
drifiting in the waves
in the lagoon. We can infer
he was a victim
of a disaster, and most likely drowned.
I will not return to the world before you,
stone statue,
start walking.
It was natural landslide - a stone rolled
down and trapped us in this cave-in.
We must wait for someone
to come and rescue us.
For now the cabin will hold but
if another lanslide comes...
I thank God that you are still live and that I
can still live so you know the truth.
I don't want you to think that I am a crook
and that I didn't have the means
to support you and the child in
the future.
You cannot imagine how much I suffered
the day your will was read
Two years had already passed and your death
was already obvious.
I leave all my estate
to my legitimate wife,
Irmgard Vanderheit, n?e Svensen,
whom I married
in the Church of Saint Nicholas
on the 5th of August
of the current year.
You can find the proof
of my marriage
in the archives of the
Church of Saint Nicholas
It was when that I knew about
the consequences of my action
and I began my ascension
to Calvary, but I had your death
on my conscience.
Do you think I'll continue
with this farce?
You made me a criminal and now you
present yourself as innocent.
John, almost daily he forced himself
on me, and one day...
You think that because one day
I was conveniently there
I am forced to watch your every step?
Luck let me find you
and I properly treated you as
my sister-in-law...
Irmgard is insane.
And to escape John's persecution of me,
I tried to run away using my family name,
so I could rest in peace
I took my son to my mother's home.
On my way there I got a telegram from John,
saying I could not escape his claws.
The rest you already know.
Won't you forgive me?
A second landslide covers them further.
I'll see if I can catch
that bandit. You go to the cabin.
On the way back, with his back turned.
Return to the world with me, George,
and we will start a new life.
I won't return to the world until that
stone virgin starts walking,
I made this vow and I will fulfill it.
I entrust to you a saved soul
and I hope you know how to take
care of her.
Irmgard sent for her mother
and son to join her in
the mountains.
If you weren't the wife of the
late George Vanderheit
who, in his will, didn't reveal his marriage,
all his fortune
would have gone to me.
So it was my fault that you cease to be
the legitimite heir?
Can I deny this pleasure to the man,
who saved my life?
Dear God, what am I to do?
Do you have the right not to help a woman in
the greatest of her trials?
If you are in fact the Holy Mary, as
people call you
then release me from my vow.
The Angel of the Poor
A storm at the mountain.
Give me this innocent. I will take better care of him
than you who have no means.
And she came down to the field.
Holy Mary in the snow.
After the storm
THE END