A literatura e o cinema como novo medium artístico: Hanns Heinz Ewers e O estudante de Praga (1913)

Abstract

The Student from Prague  (1913) is considered to be the first  film d’art produced in Germany. The film is based on a script by Ha nns Heinz Ewers, writer and ardent advocate of this new medium. With roots in German romantic ism, particularly in regard to motifs in the works by E.T.A. Hoffmann and Adelbert von Chamisso, The Student from Prague explored the optical possibilities offered by the doppelganger character. This literary framework supports the plot, gives credibility to the movie and contribut es to the acceptance of films as an art medium. It also marks the rise of German cinema on an international level, which reached its peak in the 1920s with the movement known as ‘German expressionism’.