Film Review: The Tunnel (Der Tunnel, 1915)

In the first decades of cinema the mere novelty of film as a technology made genre of science fiction appealing to film makers. Some of the most expensive and ambitious film projects of those times were based on science fiction novels. One of those is The Tunnel, 1915 German silent epic directed by William Wauer, often cited as the first science fiction feature film in history.

The film is based on eponymous bestselling 1913 novel by Bernhard Kellerman. The protagonist is Max Allan (played by Fritz Kayssler), brilliant engineer who has devised the plan for the most ambitious and most expensive construction project in history – an undersea tunnel that is to provide train connection between Europe and North America. The plot begins in New York City where he manages to woo Lloyd (played by Hermann Valentin), rich financier who would provide billions of dollars for the project. Allan begins work, recruits hundreds of thousands workers and tunnel is being dug from three locations – North America, midway point at Azores and France. However, horrendous conditions suffered by workers lead to incidents that would claim many lives and cause riots claiming lives of Maud’s wife and daughter. Subsequent strikes, company stock collapse and another riot would almost put the stop to the project. But after Lloyd’s daughter Ethel (played by Fritzi Massary) seduces and marry Mac, he would find new strength to continue project and after long twenty six years triumphantly drive first train from North America to Europe.

Despite its historical importance, The Tunnel is the film that could be recommended only to the hardcore cinephiles. Even those accustomed to technical limitations of early cinema would probably see this film below standards of early classics like those made by the likes of Griffith. Some of the reasons might be in relative inexperience of William Wauer, renowned sculptor whose film directing career was relatively short. On the other hand, film, advertised as the most expensive film made in Germany by that time, had misfortune of being produced just as First World War started. Rudolf Meinert, Austrian director originally chosen for the project, got mobilised so Wauer had to step in few months later and the entire film was reshot from scratch. Wauer, despite his relative inexperience, does solid job in couple of some scenes, especially those depicting violence and riots, while the rest is drowned in melodrama and overacting typical for silent era. The most disappointing aspect of the film is almost complete lack of sense of wonder. Just like Franco-German 1933 sound remake nearly two decades later, The Tunnel depicts what is supposed to be magnificent construction of trans-Atlantic tunnel by footage of ordinary tunnels. Only at the very end, when Allan’s triumph is broadcasted to the world through new medium of television (a technology that would properly invented almost decade after the film) this film earns its science fiction credentials. Intertitles at the end, which praise future Tunnel as start of eternal peace - something that looked quite elusive while Great War raged on – show that authors of The Tunnel had the heart at the right place. Their message would have been perhaps a little more effective if they had more talent and imagination, at least some of being shown by makers of eponymous British sound film twenty years later.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

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