Benjamin Christensen
Benjamin Christensen (international as Benjamin Christie ) ( born September 28, 1879 in Viborg, Denmark, † April 2, 1959, Copenhagen) was a Danish film director.
Life
Christensen had initially studied medicine before he trained to become a singer and actor, and in 1901 engaged at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. His stage career he interrupted due to a serious illness and was then champagne and wine wholesalers. In 1913 he took over the Dansk Biografkompagni in Hellerup, for which he had already worked from 1911 as a screenwriter and actor.
Equal to 1913 turned in the Nordisk Film Company 's debut film " Det hemmelighedsfulde X " (Eng. The Mysterious X), for which he also wrote the screenplay, is among the best of the early days of film. The play of light and shadow, the use of backlit scenes, and the inclusion of a single lamp in a dark room were unprecedented at the time. The film was not only artistic, but also financially a great success. Equally innovative was the subsequent film " Hævnens nat" (German Blind Justice ) from 1916, he also realized in almost complete self-work. With it, he was also known in the United States.
By 1921/22, caused " Häxan " (Eng. witches ) Christensen created a precursor of the horror movies. The semi -documentary film attempts to draw an analogy to modern " mental illnesses " such as kleptomania or hysteria based on the medieval belief in witchcraft. Although the plot of the film is sometimes abstruse, he convinces with its imaginative staging. Christensen himself played the devil and also wrote the screenplay itself here
After these three masterpieces Christensen left his native Denmark. He initially worked as an actor in some films in Germany, such as 1923/24, in " Michael ," directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. In 1923 he shot the feature film " His wife, the unknown " with Willy Fritsch in the male lead, this was followed by 1924/1925 as a director and screenwriter " The woman with the bad reputation."
In 1926, he turned in the U.S. with " The devil's circus" his next film, with Norma Shearer in the title role. Only a year later, 1927 " Mockery " with Lon Chaney, but the film itself was less convincing. With the three incurred in the years 1928/29, Thelma Todd - movies "The haunted house", "Seven footsteps to Satan" and "House of horror" ended the series in film history major works Christensen. Early thirties, he returned to Denmark. After bad reviews, he finished his career in 1942 as director of a Copenhagen suburban cinemas.