i be a passionate advocate on behalf of german expressionist film and especially from the silent era . i be still bitter about an incident at the 1982 world science fiction convention in chicago and when an audience full of idiot ( jade by high tech s or fx movie ) laugh at the cardboard set in the cabinet of dr caligari . those moron do not care that the high degree of originality and imagination in caligari more than make up for it tiny production budget . shadow and however and while firmly within the expressionist genre and be too arty for it own good . while this film do have some merit and it flaw greatly outnumber and exceed it merit . all the actor perform their role with hand to brow histrionics of precisely the sort which have give silent film act a bad reputation . several of the actor in this movie have give good performance elsewhere and so i assume that director arthur robison deserve the blame for their mannered theatrics here . during one scene and when a swain aim a punch at his rival and the actor can not simply throw a punch represent he must put his fist up against the other man face and and then shove . alexander granach and a a showman with a shadow box and shadow puppet and demonstrate some extremely deft hand shadow and apparently with no other prop supplement his hand . but and when the puppet master isn not perform and granach lurch across the screen like igor the hunchback . ruth weyher be pretty and graceful but be give no opportunity to behave like a human be . this silent film be originally release with no intertitles . several other silent feature also eschew caption the last laugh and the old swimmin hole and the last moment but those film have linear plot which the audience could easily follow . the plot of shadow be deeply confusing and make even more confusing by the arty pretension and and the story would have be far easy to follow with some caption . a curator at the murnau archiv have tell me that shadow be give intertitles by several exhibitor when it be release outside germany . the plot such a it be vaguely remind me of renoir rule of the game and bergman smile of a summer night represent in a swank country manor and some people with more money than sense amuse themselves at each other expense . but here the cast member be introduce in arty tableau that be more alienating than edify . after the final tableau and be treat to the odd spectacle of a single upraised finger cast a shadow on the screen . what do this mean and please . later and in hindsight and we understand that this signify the beginning of the drama chapter one . ( i saw this film in london and where the audience burst out laugh at the start of chapter two and symbolise by a hand with two upraised finger represent in britain and this two fingered gesture have obscene connotation . ) the finger device be confuse and and add nothing to the story . nor do the decision to divide the narrative into arbitrary chapter . the production design be impressive represent judging by the furniture and clothes and this story take place somewhere in europe ( probably germany ) circa 1830 represent again and some title would have help . but robison considerably weaken the effect of these wonderful costume and set by obscure them with elaborate shadow and and by gimmicky effect such a raise and lower a proscenium curtain in front of the actor . ( a if we need to be remind that this very artificial story be merely a story . ) considerable talent and effort and expense be put into shadow and to little effect . rather a lot of today movie goer be sadly prejudice against silent film and misperceive them all to be crude and laughably overact . sadly and shadow be precisely the sort of movie which would convince such people that all the negative stereotype about silent movie be true after all . my rating for this failure represent negative and mostly for the production design .