“Plot fantastical – acting, camera and setting excellent!”. Austrian film critic Franz Paimann enthusiastically wrote about Mihály Kertész’ A Skorpió after witnessing its Vienna premiere.
Starring Mihály Várkonyi, Jenő Balassa and Kläry Lotto, this unique fragment gives an impression of the film’s dramatic beauty. However, the scenes are partly out of order and don’t tell much about the ‘fantastical’ plot dealing with murder, betrayal and family tragedy. The dramatic thunderstorm scene – here seen prior to a dreamlike sequence of lighthearted dancing at a garden party – originally acted as the tragic ending of the film and its villain – a nobleman who unknowingly tries to imprison and kill his own son. Produced in 1918 A Skorpió was one of the last films the director made in Hungary before leaving the country and its post-war government for Vienna. Apart from the 98 meters presented in this program, today the film is considered lost.

Anna Dobringer