An early and direct expression of Dreyer's interest in the complex strength of seemingly passive, suffering characters, Michael, made in Germany and shot by the two great German cinematographers, Karl Freund and Rudolph Maté, was hailed as the first kammerspielfilm (the chamber piece translated into the psychological film). The Danish director Benjamin Christensen stars as the artist Claude Zoret, modeled in part after Rodin, whose irrepressible love for his model, Michael, withstands the boy's infidelities and finds its most complete expression in his last painting.