A young man shows his millionaire grandfather a film based on Molière's play "Tartuffe" in order to expose the old man's hypocritical governess who covets the young man's inheritance.
Direction
Murnau's nested structure predates modern meta-narratives by decades
Acting
Jannings' grotesque physicality as Tartüff is silent-era gold
Cinematography
Expressionist shadows swallow rooms whole
Director
F. W. Murnau
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Murnau's last German film before Hollywood poached him for Sunrise.
The 'film within a film' structure wasn't mere cleverness — UFA used it to justify adapting 'respectable' theater while sneaking in Murnau's visual experimentation.
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