This classic French espionage serial was first released in theaters in 1919, billed as “a cinematic novel in 12 episodes”. Directed by Louis Feuillade, also renowned for the Fantômas films and Les Vampires, the silent serial has been restored and compiled into this new Blu-ray collection clocking in at an imposing but entertaining 6 ½ hours.
Buy Tih-MinhAlthough the title references a character, the story mostly revolves around the efforts of multiple characters to possess a mysterious book believed to reveal the location of an important hidden treasure. Our setting is Nice, France, where brave adventurer Jacques d’Athys (Rene Creste) has just returned from Indochina with a new treasure: his Eurasian bride-to-be, Tih-Minh (Mary Harald, thankfully Eurasian and not subject to offensive makeup). He’s also brought the book, attracting a trio of nefarious international scoundrels working as German spies to steal the book and rob the treasure. As the spies try to outwit Athys without revealing their true intentions, Tih-Minh attempts to adapt to the foreign land and plan her wedding. There’s a dash of romance, plenty of shady characters, and occasional flashes of gun-toting action as the players all attempt to outwit each other and find their happy endings.
The actors play their roles about as expected, with the exception of Athys’ comical valet/butler, Placíde. The actor, Georges Biscot, is eerily reminiscent of Stan Laurel in both lithe appearance and exaggerated acting, by far the most animated and amusing cast member. Harald is a bit melodramatic, in keeping with her Tih-Minh character, while the dastardly villains practically twirl mustaches as they greedily scheme to defraud Athys.
The film’s pacing is a bit slow compared to U.S. film serials, unfortunately marking it as the last European film serial to be distributed in U.S. theaters. When action scenes occur, they tend to develop and conclude very quickly, while dialogue scenes are allowed to drag on as if we can hear them, even though they’re quickly summarized in seconds on the intertitle cards. The biggest factor in the pacing is the plot, as there’s just not enough story to fill a six-hour serial. Still, it’s an interesting adventure to see how it’s all going to turn out, enhanced by the extensive location shots on the picturesque coast of the French Riviera.
In celebration of the film’s centennial, images on original studio Gaumont’s nitrate negative were scanned in 4K in 2018 and completed with Centre National du Cinema’s reversal dupe master. Intertitles were recreated using Franco-Flemish archives on a copy conserved by the Royal Cinematheque of Belgium. The results are nothing short of miraculous, with the images polished to such perfection that the film is allowed to stand on its own merits rather than serving as a hampered curiosity from a simpler time. Inky blacks and pristine whites enhance the superb cinematography, while seemingly no flaws remain and camera shake and even variable speed and exposure are fully smoothed out. Aside from a brief soft focus issue in episode 9, it looks more like a current film attempting to recreate the past than an actual archival work. It’s really one of the best restoration jobs I’ve seen, and ensures that the film will remain relevant for generations to come.
