Zapata's Gang
| Zapata's Gang | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| German | Zapatas Bande |
| Directed by | Urban Gad |
| Written by | Urban Gad |
| Produced by | Paul Davidson |
| Starring | Asta Nielsen |
| Cinematography | |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 42 minutes |
| Country | Germany |
| Languages |
|
Zapata's Gang (German: Zapatas Bande) is a 1914 German comedic silent film directed by Urban Gad and starring Asta Nielsen and Fred Immler.[2] It depicts the difficulties a crime film's actors face after being mistaken for actual robbers. The film is considered to be one of the first German films with bisexual characters.[3][4]
Synopsis
Cast
|
|
Reception
Author Heidi Schlüpmann wrote "this is cinema encouraging transgressions of every kind and in every direction; but the film's diegetic actors also transform a robber play planned in Berlin into an episode in the life of Italian dwellers and film tourists; Nielsen's skills as an actress become visible here in her capacity to forge connections to the everyday reality through which she passes."[5]
Author Sabine Hake opined that "the film almost reverses the hierarchies between fiction and reality and offers a surprisingly modern perspective on the old problem of life imitating art." Hake also notes that the actors "theatrical gestures appear completely out of place in the serene Italian countryside and indirectly confirm the higher reality associated with the film world."[6]
See also
- Asta Nielsen filmography
- Cinema of Germany
- List of German films of 1895–1918
- List of LGBTQ-related films pre-1920
References
- ^ Mellini, Arthur, ed. (7 March 1914). "Asta Nielsen in Zapatas Bande". Lichtbild-Bühne. No. 10. Berlin. p. 36.
- ^ Kapczynski, Jennifer M.; Richardson, Michael David, eds. (2012). "Asta Nielsen Secures Unprecedented Artistic Control". A New History of German Cinema. Translated by Gillespie, Susan H. Rochester: Camden House Publishing. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-57113-490-5.
- ^ Bryant, Wayne M. (1997). "In the Beginning". Bisexual Characters in Film: From Anaïs to Zee. New York: Routledge. p. 11. ISBN 1-56023-894-1.
- ^ Mitchell, Ryan A. (2015). Bisexual Identity Development: A Social Cognitive Process (Master of Science thesis). Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. p. 23.
- ^ Schlüpmann, Heidi (2020). "Asta Nielsen: Protagonist of Historicity". In Bergfelder, Tim; Carter, Erica; et al. (eds.). The German Cinema Book. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-911239-41-3.
- ^ Hake, Sabine (2010). "Self-Referentiality in Early German Cinema". In Elsaesser, Thomas (ed.). A Second Life: German Cinema's First Decades. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press. p. 244. ISBN 978-90-5356-183-6.
Further reading
- Allen, Robert C. (Autumn 1973). "In The Eyes Of A Silent Star The Films Of Asta Nielsen". British Film Institute. Sight and Sound. Archived from the original on 7 September 2025.
- Kundura, Beykoz (6 September 2023). "Women Pioneers in Cinema: Asta Nielsen". Beykoz Kundura. Archived from the original on 8 August 2025.