In Daydreams, it was about the living image of memory shattering the mind; once clearly defined boundaries between the images of social life and the private workings of memory were thus thrown together beyond repair. That same year Bauer reworked the theme by inversing the perspective of illusion; now it is about the dead image coming to haunt.
Again, the woman is an actress. Here it is she that courts the man, before eventually withdrawing. Soon after she commits suicide for unrequited love, and the man is devastated with guilt.
Generally speaking, if you are to see one of the two films - although I advise both - I would recommend the other. Except for two magnificent touches.
One is the woman eventually excusing herself from the illicit meeting with the man by claiming she thought he was somebody else. So, it is not simply the ensuing nightmare that frightens but the more sinister implication that so much suffering may have sprung from coincidence, from the mind's habit of chasing chimeras.
The other, is that the man is trusted with the diary of the dead girl. We do not know whether or not he was the intended partner; but, having become privy in the inner workings of her mind, he assumes his place in her narrative. So, now this narrative - the diary - of a girl yearning for love is nested inside the other, about the man's self-recrimination for not reciprocating.
Oh, there is mention of the man's morbid fixation to his dead mother - again the image of her, prominently hung above the fireplace - which is a contemporary Freudian slip that must have looked chic at the time but is useless. And the appearances of the dead woman desperately call out for cinematic presentation; but the impressionist technique of the French was still several years into the future.
Other than that, it's a fascinating tappestry to tease out. Bauer knew what he was doing with these films.
Again, the woman is an actress. Here it is she that courts the man, before eventually withdrawing. Soon after she commits suicide for unrequited love, and the man is devastated with guilt.
Generally speaking, if you are to see one of the two films - although I advise both - I would recommend the other. Except for two magnificent touches.
One is the woman eventually excusing herself from the illicit meeting with the man by claiming she thought he was somebody else. So, it is not simply the ensuing nightmare that frightens but the more sinister implication that so much suffering may have sprung from coincidence, from the mind's habit of chasing chimeras.
The other, is that the man is trusted with the diary of the dead girl. We do not know whether or not he was the intended partner; but, having become privy in the inner workings of her mind, he assumes his place in her narrative. So, now this narrative - the diary - of a girl yearning for love is nested inside the other, about the man's self-recrimination for not reciprocating.
Oh, there is mention of the man's morbid fixation to his dead mother - again the image of her, prominently hung above the fireplace - which is a contemporary Freudian slip that must have looked chic at the time but is useless. And the appearances of the dead woman desperately call out for cinematic presentation; but the impressionist technique of the French was still several years into the future.
Other than that, it's a fascinating tappestry to tease out. Bauer knew what he was doing with these films.