Deep Archive Finds Movies That Echo the Spirit of Das Laster: Cult Guide

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Paul Mauthner, a painter, has syphilis. A quack who promises a cure cannot help. Paul seduces his brother's wife and infects her with syphilis. While he then flees, the young, infected woman dies of the disease. The daughter born of this liaison, also infected, is admitted to a special clinic and can be cured there.

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A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Nachtgestalten perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Thomas Bezug, the richest man in the world, is a solitary, domineering and cruel cripple who hardly can move on his crutches. He dwells a fanatical love for his son, whom he holds like a monkey in a cage.

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A variation of the famous Oscar Wilde tale in which Dorian Gray's soul is manifested in a painting instead of his own body.

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A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Jettchen Gebert's Story perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

In ancient, Tsarist Russia. Fyodor Protasov's marriage to his wife Lisa is over. However, the Russian Orthodox Church does not approve of a divorce, and so Protasov fakes his own suicide, before Lisa move in with her lover Viktor Karenin. Fyodor himself becomes a "living corpse".

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Characteristic for Hoffmann's work is his life-long fight against rationalism and for the revelation of nature morte, culminating mostly in carnival-like scenes anticipating literary techniques

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A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Henriette Jacoby perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A scholar defends prostitution before the World Court.

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A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

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The second syphilis film poses the moral question: namely how far an illness should be considered a human disgrace. The protagonist of this story, a young doctor, believes that only characterless people can contract the disease through reprehensible actions. At a meeting in honor of a venereologist, a violent dispute erupts between the doctor who applies moral categories and a colleague who argues more objectively. Two events make the dogmatic young doctor think: his sister marries a syphilitic who has not yet been completely healed, and he himself falls ill as a result of a kiss from a young woman who also suffers from syphilis. But the doctor is healed and reconsiders his previous attitude.