Based on the title, you should expect a lot from Secrets of a Soul. After all, hasn't mankind been searching for the secrets of the soul since time immemorial? But alas, the "secrets" we find are actually just a lot Freudian psychobabble. A better title would be Secrets of the Id.
According to the helpful special features that accompany the Kino DVD, Ufa studios and director G.W. Pabst were genuinely interested in making a film based on Freud's theories and even tried to hire the shrink himself to be a consultant on the picture, but Siggy declined. They did manage to convince his disciples Karl Abraham and Hans Sachs to serve as consultants, and, according to some sources, even rewrite the script. I find that idea plausible as the movie is structured more like a case study than an actual narrative.
After an intertitle informs us that "no important factual information has been changed", the story begins. Martin Fellman (Werner Krauss) is a seemingly typical middle aged chemist who is content with life. His wife (Ruth Weyher) is good catch- she genuinely cares for him and is a lot younger and hotter than he is. One day he receives word that his cousin Erich (Jack Trevor) will be visiting. That day, Martin is shaving the back of his wife's neck when they hear a commotion from the street- someone is murdering a young woman with a knife.
From that point forward, Martin has serious problems. He is unable to hold a knife, even to cut food to eat with, and when ever his wife is around blades he has an overwhelming desire to kill her. Finally, this interferes with his job (as he starts dropping beakers with chemicals in them) and he visits his local psychologist, Dr. Orth (Pavel Pavlov), who of course solves his problem.
Howe exactly Dr. Orth does this I am not sure. A movie like this is essentially a mystery, so we expect a lengthy explanation from the good doctor that will probably include a reference to Martin's mother. However, all we are told is that the problem is somehow tied to Erich. Okay, but how? This is somewhat like Sherlock Holmes identifying the criminal, but never explaining why or how the bad guy did it.
The movie alternates between a fairly classical style in which Martin goes through his daily life and his nightmares and memories, which are shot in a very metaphorical, expressionist style. These sequences are kind of weird but also kind of funny, which is how a lot of modern psychologists think of Freud's theories, making the movie a period piece that has little relevance today. And am I the only who finds it ironic they hired a guy named Pavlov to play the therapist? Woof, woof.
Geheimnisse einer Seele (1925)