After being struck by Chaplin, I understood – and understanding which later became a belief – that linguistic espression / words always come out of prior mimetic and gestural expression.

Fritz Kortner, Deutsche Kinemathek Berlin, 1970

Since the days and night of work while filming Schatten, I have know that Kortner embodies an extraordinarily rare unity. An intellectual and emotional subtlety, with delicate links between the conscious and unconscious, that can suddenly and unexpectedly turn into aggressive / combative / extroverted virility.Sensitivity rich with psychosomatic nuances which dsometimes expresses itself not only with throbs / spasms, but sometimes also with a punch. Clearly in cinema, which is of a visual nature, the strength of delicate sensitivity is more evident than the unbridled, passionate intelligence. But the fact that this intelligence and hypersensitivity is also a bundle that can tighten – to the point of throwing a punch – seems marvelous to me.

Arthur Robinson, “Wie ich Fritz Kortner sehe…” in Heinz Ludwigg, ed. by, Fritz Kortner, Berlin 1928