Michael

This might best be remembered for being one of the few films of the silent era to deal with the issue of homosexuality. Director Carl Dreyer creates the classic love triangle between an artist, who loves his male model, Michael, and the countess who also loves him. The countess hires the artist to paint her portrait, but he finds it difficult because she is not his inspiration. He utterly fails at painting her eyes (Bergman's window to the soul), but Michael comes in and paints her eyes with such care and precision that an art critic makes the point that the eyes stand out so much that they must have been painted by another hand. Michael falls in the love with the countess, leaving the poor artist to himself. Perhaps the two greatest cinematographers of the silent era (or any era, for that matter), Rudolph Mate and Karl Freund collaborated on the photography which is often stunning and carefully lit. However, the character are a bit too distant for this to be a fully satisfying film. It's the kind of film that serves to prepare a director like Dreyer for far greater things to come.