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 First edition cover | |
| Author | Hanns Heinz Ewers |
|---|---|
Publication date | 1911 |
Alraune (German for Mandrake ) is a novel by German novelist Hanns Heinz Ewers published in 1911. It is also the name of the female lead character. [1] The book originally featured illustrations by Ilna Ewers-Wunderwald. [2]
The basis of the story of Alraune dates to the Middle Ages in Germany. The humanoid-shaped mandrake root or Mandragora officinarum was widely believed to be produced by the semen of hanged men under the gallows. Alchemists claimed that hanged men ejaculated after their necks were broken and that the earth absorbed their final "strengths". In some versions, it is blood instead of semen. [3] The root itself was used in love philtres and potions while its fruit was supposed to facilitate pregnancy. Witches who "made love" to the mandrake root were said to produce offspring that had no feelings of real love and had no soul.[ citation needed ]
The novel deviates from the myth by concentrating on the issues of artificial insemination and individuality: genetics versus environment. A scientist, Professor Jakob ten Brinken, interested in the laws of heredity, impregnates a prostitute in a laboratory with the semen of a hanged murderer. The prostitute conceives a female child who has no concept of love, whom the professor adopts. The girl, Alraune, suffers from obsessive sexuality and perverse relationships throughout her life. She learns of her unnatural origins and she avenges herself against the professor.
A number of films and other works are based on or inspired by the novel Alraune.
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The year 1918 in film involved some significant events.
Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatment for humans, and is a common practice in animal breeding, including dairy cattle and pigs.
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Alraune is a 1918 Hungarian science fiction horror film directed by Michael Curtiz and Edmund Fritz. It starred Géza Erdélyi. Little is known about this film, and it is believed to be lost. Alraune is German for mandrake. The film is based on the novel Alraune by German novelist Hanns Heinz Ewers that was published in 1911.
Alraune, die Henkerstochter, genannt die rote Hanne is a 1918 silent science fiction horror film directed by Eugen Illés and Joseph Klein and starring Max Auzinger. The film was produced by Luna-Film and distributed by Natural Film GmbH. The art direction was by Artur Günther. Alraune, die Henkerstochter, genannt die rote Hanne was released in the US under the title Sacrifice.
Alraune is a 1928 German silent science fiction horror film directed by Henrik Galeen and starring Brigitte Helm in which a prostitute is artificially inseminated with the semen of a hanged man. The story is based upon the legend of Alraune. In this version, the blasphemous sexual union causes the progeny to grow to adulthood quickly, behave in a sexually promiscuous fashion and cause the men who fall in love with her nothing but hardship, heartache and financial ruin, if not death.
Alraune is a German science fiction horror film directed by Richard Oswald. Like the 1928 version, this movie again features Brigitte Helm in the role of Alraune. This version aimed for greater realism but is still based upon the original German myth.
Alraune, later renamed Unnatural: The Fruit of Evil, is a 1952 black and white West German science fiction film, directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt and starring Hildegard Knef and Erich von Stroheim. The film is based on the 1911 novel Alraune by German novelist Hanns Heinz Ewers. The plot involves a scientist who creates a woman (Knef) who is beautiful yet soulless, lacking any sense of morality.
Alraune is a fictional female character in a novel of the same name by German writer Hanns Heinz Ewers.
Spy for Germany is a 1956 West German thriller film directed by Werner Klingler that stars Martin Held, Nadja Tiller and Walter Giller. Based on a book by Will Berthold, the film depicts the mission of a German spy Erich Gimpel during the Second World War to discover how far the American nuclear programme had progressed. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in West Berlin and on location in Boston and New York in America. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Hans Kuhnert and Paul Markwitz.
The Loves of Ariane is a 1931 British-German drama film directed by Paul Czinner starring Elisabeth Bergner, Charles Carson and Percy Marmont. Shot in Germany, it was an English-language version of the 1931 film Ariane. It was based on the 1920 novel Ariane, jeune fille russe by Claude Anet. The screenplay concerns a young woman studying at University who falls in love. A German version of the film, Ariane was also made.
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