Seduction (1929) Erotikon | Directed by Gustav Machatý & Starring Ita Rina | Region-Free (DVD) | Silent Film

Part of the REDSERIES on DVD.

Title: Seduction (1929)

Alternate Title: Erotikon

Genre: Drama / Romance

Plot Synopsis
Andrea, the daughter of a railway gatekeeper, spends a stormy night under the same roof as a suave traveler who misses his train and is invited to stay. Flirtation turns to a charged encounter, leaving her to face consequences alone. She later marries a decent man who helps her through hardship, but fate brings the seducer back into her life in Prague, reigniting old desires and testing loyalties as pride, longing, and respectability collide.

Cast and Crew

• Director: Gustav Machatý

• Writers: Gustav Machatý, Vítězslav Nezval

• Cast:

  • Ita Rina as Andrea

  • Olaf Fjord as George Sydney

  • Karel Schleichert as Railway Gatekeeper (Andrea’s father)

  • Theodor Pištěk as Hilbert

  • Charlotte Susa as Gilda

IMDb Link: Seduction (1929) 

Reviews from Letterboxd

1. sakana1 – ★★★½
   “Though the film as a whole is unable to maintain the level established by its first act, the opening segment of Gustav Machatý’s Erotikon is spectacular, living up to its title and then some. The story begins in a rainstorm, with a wealthy businessman (George, played by Olaf Fjord) stranded at a small town train station by the weather. Initially struggling to win over the suspicious, working class stationmaster (Karel Schleichert), the man eventually gains his favor through gifts of liquor and a fancy lighter, and is invited to the stationmaster’s home for the night. Though the older man refuses to think about it until he’s forced to months later, he essentially accepted those objects in exchange for the honor of his tempting young daughter Andrea (the stunning Slovenian Ita Rina, who gives the best performance in the film by a wide margin), with whom he cheerfully leaves the man alone, despite her urgent reminder to her father that ‘I’m afraid of strangers!’ Having spotted the pretty girl in a photo, the handsome, nattily dressed George flirts eagerly with her when her father returns to work. Andrea is flattered by and receptive to his flirtation to a point, after which she firmly tells him goodnight and goes to bed, locking her bedroom door behind her. When the phone rings during the night, however, Andrea’s rush to answer it again puts her in close proximity to George, and neither of them is willing or able to resist their attraction any longer. Unusually for such a cinematic situation, their s&xual encounter is not only enthusiastically consensual, but also occurs with the understanding on Andrea’s part that it’s a one night stand. She’s never deceived, and does nothing against her will. And, without even the slightest nudity, Machatý makes the scene breathtakingly erotic, shooting Andrea’s face contorted in ecstasy when George merely kisses the finger of her hand, showing George going down on her from Andrea’s point of view, and wrapping it all in a disorienting montage of the objects on the wall and, again and again, the sensuous image of rain running down the glass of the widow above them. Even the next morning, the world still feels a little unsteady, with George’s departure by train shot in a way that feels almost impressionistic — it’s smeared and more gestural than representational — letting the viewer know that it’s not just the young girl who’s been impacted by their night together. Everything from that point on can help but disappoint a bit, as the film settles into familiar melodrama of pregnancy, banishment, fractured marriages and badly timed reunions. Through it all, though, Rina is excellent, largely understated and controlled in a way that is always surprising in silent film, and Fjord, too, is good, making the bed-hopping, marriage-wrecking George appealing in spite of himself, and his eventual love for Andrea entirely convincing.”

2. Krautsalat – ★★★½
   “Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2021: Film #1. Unfortunately way too classy for a title like that.”

3. biLLy Go – ★★★★½
   “Thought this was quite beautiful in sequences. Loved all those Ita Rina close-ups. Those eyes of hers were something else. Saw it without any subtitles and I still felt like I had a handle on what was going on, mostly on account of how good the direction was.”

4. Andrew – ★★★★
   “‘S&xual bliss sequences inspired by Murnau’ makes this sound like a lost masterpiece, and it’s not, but it’s still pretty good.”

5. manilazic – ★★★½
   “Il Cinema Ritrovato 2025. It really do be like that sometimes…”

Meta Description:
Gustav Machatý’s 1929 silent melodrama about a railwayman’s daughter, a fateful seduction, and a chance reunion in Prague—sensual, visually inventive, and anchored by Ita Rina’s luminous performance.