The Hands of Orlac

Based on the novel by Maurice Renard, this is the tale of Orlac (Conrad Veidt), a famous concert pianist, who is severely injured in a train wreck that fractures his skull and mutilates his hands. The supervising surgeon, however, decides to amputate Orlac’s ruined hands and replace them with the hands of a recently executed prisoner who was serving time for murder. Once the pianist recovers and realizes that his hands are those of a killer, he becomes too distraught to resume his career and begins to question his sanity. Who is that strange man who is shadowing him? Why do his hands seem to have a life of their own?

Limited number of discount passes to see all the films in the Weimar Germany: Queer Visions series while supplies last.

• Director: Robert Wiene
• Year: 1924
• Country: Germany, Austria
• Runtime: 92 minutes