Fährmann Maria (1936) review - creepy, wet, and absolutely gorgeous

If you like misty swamps, creepy silent guys in black capes, and intense staring contests, you should probably watch Fährmann Maria tonight. But if you get bored by slow black-and-white films where not much "happens" in the modern sense, you will probably hate it. 🛶

It is a weird little German movie from 1936 that feels more like a dream than a historical artifact. I stumbled onto it late at night, and honestly, it felt like looking at a moving painting that someone left in a damp basement.

The plot is super simple. A young woman named Maria takes over a ferry boat job in a dreary, wet village where everyone looks like they haven't smiled since 1920.

Then this sick guy shows up, running away from Death—who is literally just a tall, scary dude in a dark coat riding a horse. Maria decides she likes this sick guy, so she tries to hide him from the grim reaper.

Those Haunting Eyes

Sybille Schmitz, who plays Maria, has some of the most haunting eyes I have ever seen on screen. She doesn't even need to speak; she just glares at the camera and you immediately feel her desperation.

There is this one scene where she is pulling the ferry across the river, and the creaking of the rope is so loud and rhythmic it almost becomes a musical instrument. It is incredibly simple, but it made my hair stand up a bit.

It reminded me a bit of the director's other moody coastal film, Strandgut, because both movies make you feel like you need a warm blanket and a hot cup of tea just to get through them. Frank Wisbar really knew how to shoot water and fog.

The villagers in this town are also incredibly annoying. They just stand around in the mud, gossiping and being suspicious of Maria because she is an outsider.

Classic small-town behavior, even when literal Death is walking down the road on a horse.

"The shadow of the stranger doesn't fall on the ground like ours does."

Speaking of Death, the actor playing him is terrifying without doing much. He just stands there, watching. 💀

In one scene, he enters a local dance hall, and the music just... stops. It is a bit of a cliché now, but here it feels genuinely cold and awkward.

The ending gets a bit messy and rushed, like they realized they only had five minutes of film left in the camera. But the final confrontation in the marsh is still worth it for the shadows alone.

It is not a perfect masterpiece, but it has a vibe that sticks with you long after the credits roll.