You are here:

The Burning Soil

Name: The Burning Soil
Director: F. W. Murnau
Released: 1922
Duration: 98 min

Representation Score

1.7/10

Minimal

1922

Director

F. W. Murnau

Runtime

98 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

F.W. Murnau’s drama centers on the corrosive impact of industrial wealth on traditional social orders. The narrative emphasizes themes of class mobility and the tension between agrarian traditions and oil-driven capitalism. Despite lacking modern diverse representation, the film provides a critical view of human relationships. It dismantles the stability of rural life by highlighting how greed and economic shifts disrupt traditional hierarchies. Ultimately, the work examines shifting power dynamics. It presents a transactional view of social climbing and legacy, replacing moral certainty.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does The Burning Soil have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film does not include any LGBTQ+ identities. The romantic storylines follow typical patterns between the male lead and several female characters.

How does The Burning Soil portray gender?

Fair

Women play key roles but mainly support the male characters' rise in social status. They act as catalysts for male ambition and objects of pursuit, reinforcing traditional gender roles.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Burning Soil?

Minimal

The movie reflects the homogeneous society of 1922 Germany. There are no non-white characters or signs of racial diversity in the main cast.

How does The Burning Soil represent religion and culture?

Fair

The story criticizes agricultural traditions through the lens of capitalist opportunism. It portrays family legacies and inheritances as unstable and transactional, rather than sacred.

Does The Burning Soil include disability representation?

Minimal

The Count's illness serves as a plot device to create conflict over inheritance. It does not explore disability or personal ability to act in depth.

Present on Screen

Examines the tension between traditional agrarian values and industrial progress.
Critiques capitalist opportunism and the instability of social hierarchies.
Challenges the idea of sacred family legacy through transactional motivations.

Limited or Absent

Does not include LGBTQ+ identities or queer narratives.
Female characters are confined to supporting male social advancement.
Disability is used as a plot device without deeper character exploration.

Official Synopsis

When farmer Rog dies, his eldest Peter takes over the farm while his youngest Johannes is determined for a better life: he becomes secretary to Count Rudenberg and starts courting his daughter Gerda. When he learns that the Count, who is terminally ill, has bequeathed a piece of land under which lies a petroleum field to his second wife, he courts her instead.

How are these scores produced? →