Der weiße Teufel (1930)

Late 1851, during the era of the tsars, in the southern Russian borderlands. The mountain peoples of the Caucasus fiercely defend their independence against the troops of Tsar Nicholas I. The villagers place their hopes in Hadji Murat, whom everyone calls the “White Devil,” as they celebrate a feast. The attractive dancer Saira has her eye on the handsome Caucasian, much to the displeasure of her uncle Shamil, one of the local leaders. He verbally attacks Hadji Murat, but before the two men can come to blows, Russian soldiers raid the village. Many men and women are abducted by the invaders, including Saira. Shamil then calls on his people to stand up to the Russians and fight them wherever they encounter them. Prince Vorontseff, commander-in-chief of the Russian army, sends his soldiers into battle against Shamil and his people. Hadji Murat and his horsemen take the enemy by surprise by blowing up a rock face and capture numerous Russians. When Murat returns to the village with his men, Shamil calls him a traitor for not having killed his Russian prisoners at once. A furious confrontation follows, and the isolated Hadji Murat has to flee, accompanied by only a handful of his closest followers. When Murat learns that Shamil has placed his adolescent son Yusuf under arrest, the White Devil is enraged and considers how he might take revenge on Shamil. He even considers joining the Russians and asks for an audience with Tsar Nicholas. The tsar is willing to grant him clemency and refrain from pursuing his past “offenses,” provided he takes part in military operations against the rebellious Caucasian mountain peoples. Hadji Murat now gets to know the lavish life at the court in St. Petersburg and is lodged with the commandant of the tsar’s palace complex. The man has a young son who reminds the White Devil of his own child, Yusuf, who is in Shamil’s hands. The Caucasian quickly settles into life at court. At a dance held by the imperial ballet school, Hadji Murat impresses St. Petersburg’s highest society in his white tribal dress. But he is not the only person from his village in the city. Murat can hardly believe his eyes when he spots a dancer performing for Tsar Nicholas: it is Saira! As Murat knows all too well, she is at the tsar’s court against her will. Nicholas relentlessly pursues her with his amorous advances. Nelidova, the monarch’s secret lover, watches his unsuccessful attempts to woo Saira with growing displeasure. Nelidova then approaches Hadji Murat and claims that Saira is in great danger. But this is merely a desperate act born of jealousy: Saira actually wants to arrange an unexpected encounter between the tsar and Hadji Murat, since the emperor plans to visit her room and spend the night with her. When someone knocks at Saira’s bedroom door, Hadji Murat is already with her. After the tsar opens the door, the White Devil and Saira seize the moment of surprise to escape. Nelidova now believes she has the tsar all to herself again. Meanwhile, the White Devil and Saira manage to escape the tsar’s circle. Saira and Hadji Murat marry at the first opportunity. Tsar Nicholas, however, is not willing to let the Caucasian and the dancer make a fool of him. He has already instructed his commander-in-chief, Prince Woronzoff, to force Hadji Murat to attack Shamil and his people, for Saira has once again fallen into Russian hands and has become the tsar’s hostage to use as leverage against Hadji Murat, forcing him into this act of loyalty to the Crown. But the White Devil remains a patriotic Caucasian and refuses to launch an attack against his mountain people. Meanwhile, Shamil has decided to kill Yusuf within the next three days, as punishment for his father’s alleged betrayal. One of Hadji’s friends manages to free Saira on Easter night, when the Russians have gone to take part in a procession. Her husband, too, escapes Russian control, pursued by tsarist soldiers. He now intends to lead his own people in the struggle against Russian subjugation and oppression. Just as Shamil is about to wall Murat’s son up alive in a rock face, his niece Saira rushes in and makes it clear to the brutal rebel leader that Hadji has never betrayed them. Hadji Murat, the White Devil, throws himself fearlessly into the fray with the Russians to stop their advance toward his home village. In the end, only three of his comrades remain at his side. An enemy volley strikes him, badly wounding him. At the last moment, Shamil’s fighters rush in and rescue him as he lies dying. Hadji is lifted onto his white horse by his people and manages to make it back to his home village. There, he introduces his newly freed son Yusuf to his new mother, Saira. Before the White Devil dies, Hadji Murat and his eternal adversary Shamil reconcile.