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Homunculus (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Homunculus' is a six chapter German science fiction silent serial directed by Otto Rippert and written by Robert Reinert. Other sources list Robert Neuss as a co-writer. The most successful German-made film series produced during World War I, it was theatrically released between August 1916 and January 1917 in six parts running approximately one hour each.
Fritz Lang was one of Rippert's assistants during filming.Cross, Robin "Science Fiction Films" pg.19
The plot is very similar to Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein', wherein a living creature (called a homunculus) is created artificially in a laboratory and strives to develop emotions like a human being. ('Frankenstein' had previously been filmed by Thomas Edison in the United States in 1909.) The film was re-released with colored tints and Italian language intertitles in 1920, and it is this print that exists in the George Eastman Museum film archives.
Plot
A scientist creates a living creature called a 'Homunculus' (a Latin word which means 'little man') in a laboratory, and the creature strives to find love. When it discovers it is unable to feel emotions, it goes on a rampage and starts creating havoc in a nearby German village. Although it looks human, it is a soulless being. The scientist hunts down the creature in an attempt to destroy his creation. The theme of an artificially created being turning against its creator is also similar to the 'Golem' films of Paul Wegener and the silent film versions of Henrik Galeen's 'Alraune'.
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