Cutting through repression ...
A chemist is plagued by his reoccurring nightmares in G. W. Pabst' exploration of psychoanalysis, Secrets of a Soul (1926).
As Martin (Werner Krauss) trims the hair on the back of his wife's (Ruth Weyher) neck, a woman in the street screams "murder!" Martin is startled, and inflicts a superficial wound on her neck with the razor. He becomes obsessed with the compulsive act of killing his wife, which he cannot suppress, through his contact with knives, scissors and all sharp implements, even by his visit to the barber for a shave. He is tormented by lurid dreams: A rainstorm in the bedroom, locomotives, and a city that springs from nothing. The nightmares finally send him to Dr. Orth (Paval Pavlov) for treatment. He relates real life events and the subsequent dreams. Martin's wife coos, "I wish we could have a baby," as she cradles a puppy. Later, in his dream, he sees her with an infant taken from the water as she passes in a boat. They await arrival of her cousin, a playmate from childhood. When Erick (Jack Trevor) arrives, Martin panics at the sight of the dinner table flatware and insists his wife must carve the roast, before he leaves the room. "You must please excuse me. I'm afraid I cannot touch a knife." "My husband has not been the same since the murder next door." From the doctor's couch Martin recalls the day of the killing, "HE - did it with a razor!" Martin describes his dreams: A nursery transforms into a dark empty room as he locks the door and leaves. He imagines his wife in sexual situations with her cousin. He dreams of flying, a crossing gate and a train. The doctor explains Martin's fear of murder is simply by association with the neighborhood crime. Finally, Martin relates a childhood story, which is revealed to be the origin of his troubles, and once discovered, he is 'cured'. Martin returns home to his wife and embraces her cousin. They retire to the country, with their newborn child. Pabst took full advantage of Expressionist technique to interpret and present the distorted and frighteningly unreal world of the subconscious in what was ultimately a well constructed advertisement for the new practice of psychotherapy.
A chemist is plagued by his reoccurring nightmares in G. W. Pabst' exploration of psychoanalysis, Secrets of a Soul (1926).
As Martin (Werner Krauss) trims the hair on the back of his wife's (Ruth Weyher) neck, a woman in the street screams "murder!" Martin is startled, and inflicts a superficial wound on her neck with the razor. He becomes obsessed with the compulsive act of killing his wife, which he cannot suppress, through his contact with knives, scissors and all sharp implements, even by his visit to the barber for a shave. He is tormented by lurid dreams: A rainstorm in the bedroom, locomotives, and a city that springs from nothing. The nightmares finally send him to Dr. Orth (Paval Pavlov) for treatment. He relates real life events and the subsequent dreams. Martin's wife coos, "I wish we could have a baby," as she cradles a puppy. Later, in his dream, he sees her with an infant taken from the water as she passes in a boat. They await arrival of her cousin, a playmate from childhood. When Erick (Jack Trevor) arrives, Martin panics at the sight of the dinner table flatware and insists his wife must carve the roast, before he leaves the room. "You must please excuse me. I'm afraid I cannot touch a knife." "My husband has not been the same since the murder next door." From the doctor's couch Martin recalls the day of the killing, "HE - did it with a razor!" Martin describes his dreams: A nursery transforms into a dark empty room as he locks the door and leaves. He imagines his wife in sexual situations with her cousin. He dreams of flying, a crossing gate and a train. The doctor explains Martin's fear of murder is simply by association with the neighborhood crime. Finally, Martin relates a childhood story, which is revealed to be the origin of his troubles, and once discovered, he is 'cured'. Martin returns home to his wife and embraces her cousin. They retire to the country, with their newborn child. Pabst took full advantage of Expressionist technique to interpret and present the distorted and frighteningly unreal world of the subconscious in what was ultimately a well constructed advertisement for the new practice of psychotherapy.