Summary
In an audacious subversion of celebrity and artifice, Paul Wegener's 1917 cinematic jest unveils a narrative where the very fabric of on-screen persona is playfully unravelled. The film centers on an accomplished actor, a master of his craft, who has achieved widespread acclaim and indelible notoriety for his portrayal of a monstrous entity. This iconic performance, deeply etched into the public consciousness, becomes the unwitting instrument of a mischievous prank. Driven by a whim of theatrical conceit, the actor dons the familiar, fearsome guise of his most famous creation, stepping off the silver screen and into the unsuspecting real world. What begins as a lighthearted, perhaps even hubristic, practical joke—a blurring of the lines between the performer and the performed—swiftly spirals into a labyrinth of unforeseen complications. The boundaries between the tangible reality of the actor and the perceived authenticity of the creature he embodies begin to dissolve, leading to a delightful, yet potentially perilous, entanglement of mistaken identity, public hysteria, and personal revelation, all predicated on the audience's unwavering belief in the spectacle they consume.
As a practical joke, an actor impersonates the screen monster he made famous. Complications ensue.
