'' (also known as ''Mikaël'', ''Chained: The Story of the Third Sex'', and ''Heart's Desire'') was a movie released in 1924 directed by
Carl Theodor Dreyer (director of other notable silents such as ''
The Passion Of Joan Of Arc '' (1928), ''
Master Of The House '' (1925), and ''
Leaves From Satan's Book '' (1921)).
Along with ''
Different From The Others '' (1919) and ''
Sex In Chains '' (1928), ''Michael'' is widely considered a landmark in gay silent cinema.
In the film,
Benjamin Christensen plays the character of a famous painter named Claude Zoret. He falls in love with one of his models, Michael, as played by
Walter Slezak , and for a time the two live happily as partners.
Zoret is considerably older than Michael, and as they age, Michael begins to drift from him, although Zoret is completely blind to this. When a bankrupt countess (
Nora Gregor ) comes to Zoret, ostensibly to have a portrait made but with the real intent of seducing him and swindling his money, she finds Michael to be more receptive to her advances and, at her lead, the two are quickly a couple and she immediately begins using Michael to steal from Zoret. When he discovers what has been going on, Zoret is crushed and his work suffers terribly.
After Michael sells the painting of himself that Zoret made and gave to him as a gift, and after he steals and sells the sketches Zoret made of their time in
Algiers , where they first fell in love, Zoret begins work on his masterpiece: a large-scale painting of a man lying on a beach, using Algiers as a background, depicting "a man who has lost everything", as one character put it on first sight of the work.
After completing the painting, Zoret falls ill. On his deathbed, Charles Switt (
Robert Garrison ) sits beside him. Switt had always loved Zoret, and has stayed with him throughout, never criticizing Michael as he knew Zoret loved Michael and to do so would hurt him. Switt sends a message to Michael, telling him Zoret is dying and to come at once, but the Countess prevents him from getting it.
Zoret's last words, which also serve as the prologue to the film, are "Now I can die in peace, for I have seen true love."
