Der fliegende Hollander (1964)

There is no other film quite like The Flying Dutchman (Der Fliegende Holländer). Part opera, part experimental sound collage, and part avantgarde cinema, it is a surrealistic take on Wagners opera that pushed the boundaries of filmmaking at the time. Although there were silent films that used Wagners operas and music, and a 1947 Italian film that presented a heavily abbreviated version of Lohengrin, DEFAs The Flying Dutchman is considered the first attempt to film a Wagner opera in its entirety, although, in point of fact, it too reworks the story to suit both the cinematic medium and the political viewpoint of the GDR. It was directed by opera director, Joachim Herz, who, perhaps because it was his first (and only) film, opted to experiment with stateoftheart sound and film techniques. Director Herz dramatically changes Wagners opera from one about a ghostly event to the reveries of a young woman named Senta who is infatuated with the story of the Flying Dutchman. To separate reality from Sentas im