Michael (also known as Mikaël, Chained: The Story of the Third Sex, and Heart's Desire) is a 1924 German silent drama film directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. The film stars Walter Slezak as the titular Michael, the young assistant and model to the artist Claude Zoret (Benjamin Christensen). Along with Different from the Others (1919) and Sex in Chains (1928), Michael is widely considered a landmark in gay silent cinema.
The film is based on Herman Bang's 1902 novel Mikaël. It is the second screen adaptation of the book, the first being The Wings, made eight years prior by director Mauritz Stiller. Michael, however, follows Bang's storyline much more closely than the earlier film version did.
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Plot
A famous painter named Claude Zoret falls in love with one of his models, Michael, and for a time the two live happily as partners. Self-conscious of being considerably older than Michael, Zoret acts jealous and possessive. Michael begins to drift from him, causing Zoret to passive aggressively drive Michael away further. When a bankrupt countess comes to Zoret to have a portrait made she finds Michael to be more receptive to her advances. At her lead, the two quickly become a couple but when she tells Michael she's in need of money, he sells a precious painting Zoret has given him. When Zoret discovers what has been going on, he is crushed and his work suffers terribly.