Alarmed graces This is one of the first films Johan Schwarzer, which has survived to this day, and in combination and one of the very first films shot in Austria. Back in 1907, at a closed session, the pioneering director of Austrian cinema showed the first audience his short video about three bathers.
In this tape, the duration of which barely exceeds a minute, we see how three ladies of a very attractive appearance decided to decorate a wild forest beach overgrown with horns. Primitive naked beauty and nature – this perfect combination was revealed in the visual arts long before the appearance of video and photography. If Schwarzer had colored film, the film would have been even more beautiful. Girls have fun until they are not discovered... the forester, judging by the costume, although who is this self-proclaimed male observer – to understand not so easy, because at the dawn of cinema about sound films simple viewer and could not dream. Girls - amazing! - are not happy with such a surprise, but the remarks do not pass by the ears, returning to nature an untouched look.
If you omit the obvious comic nature of the situation, what is the message of this film? What then, that these days there are people who do not know how to appreciate the beautiful. It is easier for them to cross out or censor in any other way than to understand and accept true beauty. Probably, the forester comes from completely deaf places, where directness is the norm, and the ability to admire is not welcome by anyone. However, everything can be more prosaic: the girls bathed in the forbidden zone and eventually caught the guard.
Why are there three bathers? Perhaps this number was chosen by the director not by chance and his idea is somehow connected with Raphael’s painting “Three Graces”, written four centuries earlier. The fact that Schwarzer filmed not only something, but at least sometimes focused on high art, there is no doubt. Among his other films, there is, for example, an obvious reference to Sleeping Venus. In happier times, Schwarzer's creations would have enjoyed success as exemplary eroticism, but in 1907 he was considered the creator of pornography. One of the first, by the way. If you think about it, the title of the first pornographic director does not sound so offensive, but it is still a pity that this pure coin was forbidden, taking it for rusty.
10 out of 10