The Adventures of Prince Achmed

Lotte Reiniger, Germany, 1926, 66 minutes

The Adventures Of Prince Achmed is the tale of a prince who is tricked by a sorcerer into riding a flying horse to his death. Of course, he manages to save himself from this fate only to land on a magical island, where he encounters Princess Peri Banu with whom he falls in love at first sight. Once she is persuaded by his charms they try to return to the prince’s home, battling ogres, the evil sorcerer and all matter of magical challenges, helped only by a benevolent African magician and Aladdin.

Okay, so this is strictly in the realm of those fairy stories and fantasy books you read when you were ten, but to think this is to miss the point of the film. What makes The Adventures of Prince Achmed so impressive is the way in which it was made. It was an independent production and almost entirely the creative work of one woman – no mean feat in 1926. It was the first full-length animated film (beating Disney’s Snow White by eleven years) and, despite being 75 years old, the newly restored silhouette animation looks clean, fresh and technically adroit.

Lotte Reiniger brings a unique perspective to the look of traditional characters, using intricate Eastern details to show off astoundingly delicate filigree cutting work, and showing an amazing grasp of artistic tesselation and optical illusion making many scenes reminiscent of the work of M.C.Escher. This works brilliantly in the fantastical universe; objects turn into demons and sorcerers shape-shift in a way only possible in silhouette. Human gestures in particular are wonderfully underplayed, helping the film throughout, as well as endowing several scenes with an ethereal and erotic quality.

Although there are some subtitled dialogue cards between scenes, most of the 300,000 camera shots are accompanied only by a lavish recording of the specially written score, which adds further narrative to the piece. The final effect is an overwhelmingly beautiful movie in the tradition of “happy ever afters”, with many frames so perfectly composed that they stand alone as wonderful works of art.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed is a hauntingly brilliant fantasy that will simply take your breath away.

Review by Nicola Osborne
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2004