Schatten

Well, yes, a whole world of shadows, this being a classic of silent German cinema. It begins as a dream of jealousy. An angst ridden husband seethes as his flimsily clad wife is pursued around the house by four admirers - three comic, one serious. A travelling mesmerist arrives and puts them all in a trance (a hallucination within a reverie) where they see a preview of bloody things to come. Day breaks, the admirers leave the couple in peace, the mesmerist rides off on a pig. Rich pickings for thesis writers (Freud, Expressionism, German Romanticism), but it's the look of the thing that will count for most viewers, especially the costumes, flamboyant parodies of 18th century dress. The film dispenses almost entirely with inter-titles.