Via Mala

This rare gem is one of Germany's most powerful crime mysteries though that's a slightly misleading description because the focus is on the horror a family on a sawmill in a mountain gorge suffers from the hands of the father, a drunkard who beats everybody in sight. Then the film describes the attempt by all to forget the whole affair which proves quite impossible since the pretty young daughter Silvelie marries the man who begins to conduct an investigation into the case.

It's quite easy to see why this film was deemed too pessimistic since the first 25 minutes are among the most oppressive in any pre-1960 film, tinged with fear and violence and appropriately staged by Baky who used his location and set design (Walter Röhrig) to full effect with low angles (camera: Carl Hoffmann) and imaginative blocking as you can see in the caps. The film can't hold this level, but it's nevertheless one of the lost gems of film history.