Michael (1924) | Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer - Full Movie

Triangle story: painter, his young male model, unscrupulous princess.Show more

Michael (also known as Mikaël, Chained: The Story of the Third Sex, and Heart's Desire) is a 1924 German silent drama film directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, director of other notable silents such as The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Master of the House (1925), and Leaves from Satan's Book (1921). The film stars Walter Slezak as the titular Michael, the young assistant and model to the artist Claude Zoret (Benjamin Christensen). Along with Different From the Others (1919) and Sex in Chains (1928), Michael is widely considered a landmark in gay silent cinema.

The film is based on Herman Bang's 1902 novel Mikaël. It is the second screen adaptation of the book, the first being The Wings, made eight years prior by director Mauritz Stiller. Michael, however, follows Bang's storyline much more closely than the earlier film version.

Directed by: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Screenplay by: Thea von Harbou, Carl Theodor Dreyer
Based on: Mikaël by Herman Bang
Produced by: Erich Pommer
Starring: Benjamin Christensen, Walter Slezak, Max Auzinger, Robert Garrison, Nora Gregor
Cinematography: Karl Freund, Rudolph Maté
Production company: Decla-Bioscop AG
Distributed by: Decla-Bioscop-Verleih GmbH, Berlin
Release date: 26 September 1924 (Berlin)
Running time: 90 min., 86 min. (2004 alternate)
Country: Germany