Danish film master Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Michael is a mature and visually elegant period romance that remains one of the earliest and most compassionate overtly gay-themed films in movie history. Based upon Herman Bang’s 1902 novel, Dreyer’s Michael refashions the classical Greek myth of Jupiter and Ganymede into a love triangle between an aging artist, Zoret (director Benjamin Christensen), his protagonist Michael (Walter Slezak, Lifeboat) and Princess Zamikoff (Nora Gregor, Rules of the Game), an aristocratic femme fatale as entranced by Michael’s youthful beauty as Zoret is. Co-written by Fritz Lang’s wife and collaborator Thea von Harbou (M, Metropolis), this intimate and compelling film possesses a bold level of emotional detail and depicts the twilight of a male-male romance with unusual daring and subtlety.

For thoughts on Michael (1924), please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

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Video Quality

Michael makes its Blu-Ray debut thanks to Kino Classics with an impressive transfer sourced from a 2006/07 2K restoration of the original negative courtesy of the Danish Film Institute in collaboration with Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung and Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv. The film is nearing 100 years of age, yet the preservation efforts have kept it feeling youthful. The photography looks fetching in high definition with well resolved natural grain intact. The amount of detail on display is a gift with notable textures on the clothing and within the setting.

The transfer allows for a nice amount of depth and enhanced detail within the film’s composition. Black levels present some worthwhile depth with no excessive instances of black crush or compression artifacts. The contrast is firmly defined with next to nothing in the way of flicker or significant specks of damage to the print, especially compared to several other films of this vintage. There are some stray, faint vertical lines and fleeting moments of damage that make a quick appearance without ruining the look of the feature. Kino Classics continues to be a leader in the silent film space.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray presents the film with a wonderful DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that brings a nice atmosphere to the feature. The film is graced with music from Pierre Oser which complements and elevates the story well. The music is the only element to contend with here, and it sounds buoyant and pleasing with no clipping or other such anomalies. Silent film fans will be happy with the sound quality, as the music complements the narrative well with top notch fidelity. Optional English subtitles are provided.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Amanda Doxtater and Maxine Savage, scholars of Scandinavian cinema, provide a really insightful commentary track which delves into some analysis of the story, how society at the time responded to the picture, the known behind-the-scenes details and history of key figures in the production, the filmmaking techniques, how this fits into the career of Carl Theodor Dreyer, the film’s legacy and much more.

Final Thoughts

Michael is a groundbreaking piece of queer cinema which puts certain “taboo” elements more at the forefront of the plot in a way that is admirable. There are many tragic developments that occur throughout this one which toy with your emotions in visceral ways. Yet, for all the elements that there are to be praised, the story does feel a bit overstuffed and unable to sustain the runtime it is afforded. The movie delivers a few dull stretches where your attention may wane a bit, but by and large it keeps you engaged. Kino Classics has released a Blu-Ray with a really great A/V presentation and a useful commentary track. If this sounds interesting in the slightest to you, you should give it a shot. Recommended

Michael is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.