Phantom (1922): South West Silents

Overshadowed by Murnau’s previous film, Nosferatu (1922), Phantom is a tale of obsession and paints a portrait of the corrupting influence of money, the conformity of societal norms and the redemptive power of family. A film ripe to be rediscovered. 

An aspiring poet on the verge of what he takes for a big break experiences a chance encounter with a beautiful woman in the street and falls headlong into love and fantasy. With debts piling up and his promised literary celebrity failing to materialise. A forgotten gem of a film that stands as an early precursor of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958).

Thought lost for many years, this screening of Phantom will include the recent restoration by Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, Wiesbaden and a brand new score by Bath based pianist Dominic Irving.

Phantom is part of South West Silents and Bristol Ideas’ 2022 series Modernism1922 which explores the worlds of film, literature, music,…