洛阳桥
元朝末年。清明之日,世袭洛阳侯耶律寿应邀到尼庵,饮酒作乐。他的妹妹耶律含嫣因不堪深闺寂寞,携带丫环暗自出府,到郊外踏青游春。在洛阳桥畔,恰遇猎人花云一箭双雕。她见花云英俊健壮、箭法高强,遂生爱慕之情。耶律寿回府途中,遇到民妇采桑女,见她窈窕貌美,顿生邪念。于是,他依仗权势,勾结官府,把采桑女之夫杖死公堂,并逼她为妾。采桑女悲愤难忍,欲投河自尽,被花云母子及郭广卿所救。耶律寿的暴行,激怒了花云母子及郭广卿,他们决心联合穷苦乡里,向侯府报仇。耶律夫人和含嫣得知采桑女之事,严厉斥责了耶律寿。但刁恶成性的耶律寿仍一意孤行,并以蒙汉不同族、贫富悬殊为借口,断然拒绝含嫣与花云结婚的要求。含嫣心中忿忿不平,不顾族规家法,再次暗自出府,重到洛阳桥寻找花云,终于见到了日夜思念的心上人。当花云得知她是侯府千金时,竟扬长而去。含嫣悲痛不已,既恨自己的出身,更恨兄长的胡作非为,加上她受到耶律寿的锁禁,便悒郁成疾。花母以卖野味为名进侯府探查,趁机与含嫣定计,让花云伺机混入府中相见,含嫣欣喜万分,一心等待花云的到来。耶律寿纳妾之日,郭广卿、花母等众乡邻化装成送亲的人,混进府内。这时,耶律寿已烂醉如泥,新人被安置在含嫣房中。含嫣正因不见花云到来而忧伤,见采桑女蒙头默坐,不禁对她更加怜悯,决定将她放走。没想到,蒙在盖头之下的竟是她朝思幕想的恋人花云。当他俩互诉衷情时,耶律寿酒醒找来,被花云和众乡亲捉住,得到了应有的制裁。含嫣与花云如愿以偿,结为终生伴侣。
造物的奇迹
Wunder der Schöpfung is an extraordinary, fascinating Kulturfilm trying to explain the whole human knowledge of the 1920s about the world and the universe. 15 special effects experts and 9 cameramen were involved in the production of this film which combines documentary scenes, historical documents, fiction elements, animation scenes and educational impact. It its beautifully colored, using tinting and toning in a very elaborated way. Some visual ideas in the sequences with a space shuttle visiting different planets in the universe seem to have to be the inspiration for Stanley Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey.  In the context of Germany's Kulturfilm phenomenon, Wunder der Schöpfung was among the greatest achievements of the 1920s. The production was constructed, rehearsed, and shot over a period of two and a half years, under the supervision of Hanns Walter Kornblum. The idea to describe the universe and man's place in it well suited UFA's Grossfilm mentality, one year before the Metropolis catastrophe. Hundreds of skilled craftsmen participated in the project, building props and constructing scale models drawn by 15 special effects draughtsmen, while 9 cameramen in separate units worked on the historical, documentary, fiction, animation, and science-fiction sequences. Without star roles or even protagonists, the film's plot is crowded with meticulously structured and skillfully acted single scenes an artful mosaic of small vignettes. No less than four credited university professors ensured the factual background behind the scientific and historical events portrayed.  The film's symbol of progress and the new scientific era is a spacecraft, travelling through the Milky Way, making all the planets and their inspiring worlds familiar to us, with the extravaganza of their distinctive features. The film's educational intentions, however, become steadily more obscure, humorous, or even campy as this popularization project proceeds. With the excuse of presenting the end of the world a not-so-new concept as a new, undeniably scientific truth, the film veers happily along a new path, displaying detailed apocalyptic scenes of the end of mankind. For today's audiences, this amazing film demonstrates how the universe was comprehended in the 1920s, and how that view was sold to contemporary audiences.
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