Opium, Robert Reinert, Germany, 1919, 112' 2K DCP, OV GER, Sub EN-ES
Remastered 2K DCP. International revival at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival, in the retrospective look dedicated to the cinema of the Weimar Republic.
Doctor Gesellius travels to China to research the effects of opium. There, he frees a young woman named Sin from a mafia led by Nun Chiang, who swears vengeance. On the way back to his home, Gesellius discovers that Sin is the illegitimate daughter of one of his colleagues, whose son is having an affair with the doctor's wife. After the revealing discovery, his colleague's son turns up poisoned, making Gesellius the prime suspect.
Shot in a period without censorship, Opium mixes the intrigue of its exotic plot with the eroticism of its staging. This colour reconstruction was based on nitrate source elements from the Munich Film Museum, Düsseldorf Film Museum, and the Austria Film Archive. Set to music by Richard Siedhoff on the piano, and with a length equivalent to 2,150 metres of celluloid, this restored version is closer to the original release than any other version known to have survived. The international premiere took place at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival, in the context of the retrospective look dedicated to the cinema of the Weimar Republic.
Doctor Gesellius travels to China to research the effects of opium. There, he frees a young woman named Sin from a mafia led by Nun Chiang, who swears vengeance.