Das ornament des verliebten Herzens (The Ornament of the Lovestruck Heart). 1919. Germany. Written and directed by Lotte Reiniger. Animated by Reiniger, with assistance from Carl Koch, Berthold Bartosch. 4K DCP courtesy Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum. 4 min.
While the work of well-known German animator Lotte Reinger is far from inaccessible today—especially her frequently screened feature *Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed*—this new digital version of Das ornament des verliebten Herzens is part of an exciting recent restoration project around her early shorts carried out by the Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum. Das ornament des verliebten Herzens, the first film she made on her own after animating sequences for other directors, is a romantic ballet about a man and a woman who come together, part, and return again. It is an evocative example of Reiniger’s delicate hand-manipulated paper silhouette animation, which stemmed from a childhood interest in shadow theater. For many of her films, Reiniger led a small team of fellow animators and collaborators, including her husband Carl Koch, each filling different roles such as camera operator and special effects, while Reiniger not only created the stories, but also constructed the storyboards and cut out and moved the figures. Notable for her long transnational career in both silent and sound industries—her emigration from Germany and eventual settlement in London a result of the rise of the Nazi Party—Reiniger is also remembered today as the inventor of an early version of the multi-plane camera.
Xixiangji (Way Down West). 1927. China. Directed by Hou Yao, assisted by Pu Shunqing. Screenplay by Pu Shunqing, from a play by Wang Shifu. With Lim Cho Choi, Li Dan-Dan, M. C. Noo, T. K. Kar. DCP courtesy Eye Filmmuseum. French intertitles; English subtitles. 59 min.
Much of the work by early Chinese female directors, producers, or screenwriters, including Xie Caizhen, Yang Naimei, Helen Wang, Hu Ping, and Fan Xuepeng, is unfortunately considered lost today. Xixiangji, scripted by social-activist playwright turned screenwriter Pu Shunqing, who also acted as the film’s (uncredited) assistant director alongside her husband, only survives in an incomplete French distribution version (released as La Rose de Pu Chui) that was likely edited for European audiences. Based on the well-known ancient Chinese story Romance of the Western Chamber, this romantic drama follows a young scholar (T. K. Kar) who stops at a monastery on his way to an exam and falls in love with a young woman (Lim Cho Cho), staying there with her maid (Li Dan Dan), mother (M.C. Noo), and younger brother. When a local bandit storms the monastery with his soldiers, the mother promises her daughter’s hand to the man who can beat the bandits. The scholar uses his intellect to hatch a plan, eventually aiding in the safeguarding of the monastery by a friend’s army. Although a later post-battle scene with the scholar dreaming about personally fighting the bandit feels out of place—alongside some probable missing scenes (e.g., the couple meeting at night with the help of the maid)—this version of the film is not difficult to follow. And from the beautiful use of color and attention to detail in the sets and costumes to the various special effects and the moments of humor, Xixiangji is a well-crafted drama and romance. Pu continued to write screenplays until around 1930; she eventually became a lawyer and ran (unsuccessfully) for public office in China.