The Holy Mountain

Arnold Fanck was a successful filmmaker in the 1920's Germany, known especially for his mountaineering films, like this one. "Der heilige Berg" (The Holy Mountain, 1926) is great proof of Fanck's greatest talent: his eye for depicting nature. This is still a very watchable film, because of the way the director shot it. The lakes, the mountains and the skies all melt together, forming a timeless-seeming space, that gets broken every time the director attempts to tell a story. As a storyteller, he is no great talent.

The narrative is about two friends, who travel in the mountains, and meet a dancer (Leni Riefenstahl), with whom both fall in love with. The romantic triangle means their doom, since the mountain is cursed. The story is told in a very uneven manner, with narrative bumps here and there. Also we have a skiing contest for no apparent reason, which again affects the film's mood in a negative way.

The nature shots of this film could be edited into a better film, as some later tried to do. They are that gorgeous. Besides the scenery, this film is remembered for Leni Riefenstahl's first big role. Acting-wise, it isn't anything special, but the years she spent on the mountains with Fanck are visible in her directorial works as spacial understanding.