Walpurgiszauber

Hans Steinhoff’s 1923 silent marvel, Walpurgiszauber, manifests as a phantasmagorical descent into the liminal space between Germanic folklore and the burgeoning psychological realism of the Weimar era. The narrative revolves around the enigmatic allure of the Brocken, where the veil between the mundane and the mystical thins during the titular Walpurgis Night. Lilly Marischka delivers a performance of ethereal intensity, portraying a woman caught in the crosswinds of ancestral superstition and the rigid social hierarchies of the early 20th century. Hermann Benke provides a grounded, yet increasingly fractured, counterpoint as the male lead whose rationalism is systematically dismantled by the primordial forces of the Harz Mountains. Steinhoff utilizes the landscape not merely as a backdrop, but as an active protagonist, where every crag and mist-shrouded pine whispers of ancient rites. The film navigates the tension of a society on the precipice of modernity, clutching to the 'magic' of the old world while grappling with the disillusionment of the post-war landscape. It is a visual poem of chiaroscuro and movement, capturing a fleeting moment in cinematic history where the camera began to function as a conduit for the subconscious.