»OUR HOSPITALITY«

“No Bluffing! Films from the Weimar Republic showing in Weimar cinemas in 1925” – under this heading, the 7th Weimar Silent Film Retrospective contextualises the year in cinema 1925, offering both entertainment and an image of its time, an emergent art form and a growing industry. The highlight of this year’s retrospective is the screening of a milestone of American slapstick cinema with orchestral accompaniment by the Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach conducted by Robert Israel: “Our Hospitality”. Buster Keaton’s second full length feature film is certainly his most beautiful. The slogan used in 1925 for this seven-act work was “Once you go in, you’ll be swept away!” The story of clueless young William McKay is masterfully told in loving detail, while evoking memories of the first railroads. Having grown up in New York, the day he reaches adulthood William is due to inherit an estate in the American mid west. However, this legacy is the cause of a blood feud with the Canfield family, and the unsuspecting William is soon caught up in a maelstrom of dangerous situations. To cap it all, he falls in love with Virginia, the Canfields’ beautiful daughter, which raises the stakes even higher. As an uninvited guest on the Canfields’ property, as long as he remains in the house, he is protected by the traditional laws of hospitality. But everyone needs to leave eventually, and the audience is treated to a turbulent finale involving trains, canyons and waterfalls. By the end everyone’s nerves will be absolutely shredded and there won’t be a dry eye left in the house!

Tickets via lichthaus.info/karten