''Nerves'' (German:''Nerven'') is a 1919 German

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

directed by

Robert Reinert Robert Reinert (born 22 April 1872 in Vienna; died 30 August 1928 in Berlin) was a German film director and screenwriter. Born in Vienna, he moved to Munich around 1900. He wrote several novels, including "Der Weg zur Sonne" (1906) and "Krieg" ...

and starring

Eduard von Winterstein Eduard Clemens Franz Anna Freiherr von Wangenheim (1 August 1871 – 22 July 1961), known as Eduard von Winterstein, was an Austrian-German film actor who appeared in over one hundred fifty German films during the silent and sound eras. He was ...

, Lia Borré and

Erna Morena Erna Morena (born Ernestine Maria Fuchs, 24 April 1885 – 20 July 1962) was a German film actress, film producer, and screenwriter of the silent era. She appeared in 104 films between 1913 and 1951. Biography Ernestine Maria Fuchs was born in ...

.Expressionism Reassessed p.93

Plot

Germany at the end of the First World War: "The fuel that war and need created in people" is portrayed as a "nervous epidemic", "which has affected people and drives them to all kinds of deeds and guilt". The fates of various people from different social strata are described: the manufacturer Roloff, who has lost his belief in technological progress, the teacher Johannes, who calls for social reform in popular assemblies, and Marja, who turns into a revolutionary to fight against the armed forces. “''Young Marja is about to get married to Richard, but has actually loved Johannes since childhood, who has become a kind of mouthpiece for the branded people and demands social reform; when he rejects her love, which he replies but cannot reconcile with his biblical code, she takes revenge by accusing him of rape. Her brother, the factory owner Roloff, who has long since given up his belief in technological progress, swears in court that he has observed the attack: his psyche has long been marked by war and destruction, and soon he will be completely mad. Marja later withdraws the accusation and becomes the leader of a revolutionary group: she wants to build on Johannes' ideology, replaces his pacifist approaches with gun violence. In the end, even Roloff's wife, until then the only person who was perceived to be untouched, goes mad: she sets fire to Johannes' house and kills his blind sister, and then goes to the monastery to do penance.'' ”

Cast

as Fabrikbesitzer Roloff * Lia Borré as Roloffs Frau Elisabeth *

as Roloffs Schwester Marja * Paul Bender as Lehrer Johannes * Lili Dominici as Dessen blinde Schwester * Rio Ellbon as Marjas Verlobter Richard * Margarete Tondeur as Marjas frühere Amme * Paul Burgen as Mann in den Visionen

References

Bibliography

* Shulamith Behr, David Fanning & Douglas Jarman. ''Expressionism Reassessed''. Manchester University Press, 1993.

External links

* 1919 films Films of the Weimar Republic Films directed by Robert Reinert German silent feature films German Expressionist films German black-and-white films 1910s German films {{1910s-Germany-film-stub