Anders als die Andern (1919)

Director:

Richard Oswald

Writers:

Magnus Hirschfeld (writer)
Richard Oswald (writer)

Release Date:

28 May 1919 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Partially Lost Film | Gay Lead Character | Didactic | Educational | Controversial

Cast

Conrad Veidt	...	Paul Körner
Leo Connard	...	Körner's Father
Ilse von Tasso-Lind	...	Körner's Sister
Alexandra Willegh	...	Körner's Mother
Ernst Pittschau	...	Sister's Husband
Fritz Schulz	...	Kurt Sivers
Wilhelm Diegelmann	...	Sivers' Father
Clementine Plessner	...	Sivers' Mother
Anita Berber	...	Else
Reinhold Schünzel	...	Franz Bollek
Helga Molander	...	Mrs. Hellborn
Magnus Hirschfeld	...	Arzt
Karl Giese	...	Paul Körner als Schüler

Also Known As:

Different from the Others

Runtime:

50 min (reconstructed version)

Country:

Germany

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Richard-Oswald-Produktion

Trivia:

Only one print, a fragmented copy, survives. Other prints were destroyed by German sensor ship in 1920.

Quotes:

Arzt: Respected ladies and gentlemen take heed. The time will come when such tragedies will be no more. For knowledge will conquer prejudice, truth will conquer lies, and love will triumph over hatred.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Chris & Don. A Love Story (2007)

Double Wonder

It's a wonder any of this film exists; if not for the wear of age (it's said that most films of this era are lost), one would think censorship and the Nazis would have annihilated it. Yet, much of the footage remains. The Kino release of the reconstruction fills in the rest of the story with explanatory intertitles and still photographs, nearing the film's original runtime. That's the first wonder.

The second is its message of tolerance and understanding of homosexuals. Message films, social realist films, or "enlightenment films" were not too common in the silent era, probably because the lack of sound takes away from the capacity to lecture. Lois Weber is an exception that I'm familiar with; she made a career out of selling morals to audiences. 'Different from the Others' includes the tact of a self-referential scene, which Weber broadened to more interesting depths in her best work. This is a film pleading for the equality of homosexuals, and it features a lecture within the lecture doing the same: the "sexoligist" Magnus Hirschfeld giving a slideshow presentation, which is attended by Else. I think it makes the film more honest, and, at the same time, it's a way for the filmmakers to be as blunt as possible.

It's difficult to appreciate the film aesthetically, anymore. The gay nightclub scenes are frank, but the film seems to shy away from too much intimacy between homosexuals. 'Philadelphia' (1993) has been criticized for it's lack of a kiss, too, so I suppose it's asking too much of a film from 1919. The camera-work appears rather static, as well. On the other hand, Conrad Veidt was an admirable man and quite an actor. This is as much bravery from a prominent actor as you'll ever see. And, he was outspoken against the Nazis, as opposed to Emil Jannings, probably the other major male star of German silent film. Although Veidt's performance is much in the style of the time, he shows the right balance of effeminacy without being stereotypical.

Other than Veidt, the film isn't of much entertainment or artistic value. The film's message, however, is very important, even today; as the reconstruction introduction says, Germany, while a generally liberal government and populace today, Paragraph 175 wasn't repealed until 1994. And, there's the marriage debate in the US and elsewhere. 'Different from the Others' is powerful in that way.