Movie

The Life and Works of Richard Wagner

★ 5.2/10 · 8 votes 1913 1h 42m Released

DramaHistoryMusic

This biographical portrait of composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883), feature-length and lavishly produced, was released in conjunction with the centennial of his birth. It's an outstanding achievement in many respects. Naturally it looks primitive by modern standards, but contemporary viewers should bear in mind that it was made at a time when the motion picture industry was still in its infancy, and feature films were still a novelty. The very notion of a silent movie about a composer may seem odd, but Wagner is an ideal choice, simply because his life was so tempestuous and dramatic. Wagner's personality was operatic, while his tumultuous love life unfolded like a soap opera. He knew great success and abysmal failure, luxury one day and poverty the next. He participated in the wave of revolutions that swept Europe in the late 1840s, and had to flee Germany under threat of arrest.

Cast

Giuseppe Becce Richard Wagner Olga Engl Cosima von Bülow Manny Ziener Minna Planer Ernst Reicher Ludwig II. Miriam Horwitz Mathilde Wesendonk M Max Maximilian