April 6, 2006
In my last column I compared SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE to M. And then I got a couple questions about what M was. Then I decided it was time for some classic film education for you all.
And the subject of our class today? Fritz Lang. Who, by the way, I think may be the best director of all time.
A BIT ABOUT FRITZ
Lang was born in Austria. He was raised Catholic after his mother converted from Judaism. In his early 20s he traveled the world but returned in time for WWI and he joined up. But he was injured and started writing movie scripts in the hospital. After the war he met Thea von Harbou who wrote or co-wrote most of his early and successful films. They also married. But he left her in 1933 when he fleed Germany. He was offered a position in the Nazi regime to make films for them and said he’d think about it and then left everything behind and fled the country immediately. Thea was a lot more interested in helping the Nazi Party.
From then on he worked in Hollywood. But it became increasingly difficult to do so as he was known to be very difficult to work with. At the end of his career he returned to Germany to make a few fairly bad films as he was going blind.
Fritz Lang’s most celebrated films are METROPOLIS and M. METROPOLIS (1926) is still considered one of the most pioneering sci-fi films of all time and is visually unique. But it was checked out of the video store so I’ll review it some other time. I’ve seen it a number of times, with various soundtracks (you can film METROPOLIS available with some truly hardcore soundtracks), and always recommend it. I will cover M, as well as his two early MABUSE film. The last film he made was his third MABUSE film, but on IMDB it’s also his lowest rated film, so I’m not covering the third one, which I’ve never seen, because I’ve never heard a good thing about it. Another Land silent I saw fairly recently was SPIES (1928) which I quite enjoyed. It’s simply a spy thriller which fits nicely into the genre pioneered by James Bond and Alfred Hitchcock. There are crosses and double crosses -- a fair good time. In fact, Hitchcock is somewhat known to be influenced by Lang’s German work and enjoys similar genres and themes.
But on to the films I am actually going to talk about....
DR. MABUSE -- THE GAMBLER (1922)
This may be a lost cause, because I don’t know if I’ll be able to convince many people to watch a 4 hour German silent movie. But stick with me for a few paragraphs and see what you think.
Dr. Mabuse (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) is a psychoanalyst, a master of disguise and a professional con man. He has gained the knowledge of a hypnotic power and can make people do what he wants against their will. He uses this in card games to make money or simply ruin someone’s reputation by making them cheat. He has a complicated web of accomplices who help him for money or out of awe of his power.
One of his victims is a Mr. Hull (Paul Richter) who becomes curious about his ordeal and begins making inquiries. Mabuse dispatches La Carozza (Aud Egede Nissen), an attractive and mysterious woman, to keep him busy. But Hull has already contacted the State Attorney Von Wenk (Bernhard Goetzke) and he is fascinated by the case.
From that point on, the film becomes a battle of wits between Mabuse and Von Wenk. Von Wenk discovers that there is a criminal mastermind who is controlling practically the whole city but he doesn’t know who. He too is drawn unknowingly into Mabuse’s web.
The first hour or so of the film is perfectly sculpted as you see Mabuse’s complicated plans at work. He sets his cons in motion and mesmerizes his victims toward his ends. These scenes are familiar as they are like watching an intelligent heist scene in something like OCEAN’S ELEVEN. You see something unfolding and eventually come to appreciate what is really going on.
To me, the second half of the film isn’t as dynamic as the first half. It deals a lot more with emotions and people being passionately emotional in their big silent film way. It takes Von Wenk round about forever to figure out that Mabuse is the big bad and I never feel like Von Wenk is smart enough to catch Mabuse. But still, curiosity about the fate of Mabuse will keep any viewer interested.
Mabuse goes by many aliases and is constantly using disguises, with the best makeup technology of the time. And Lang too is always pushing technology. The film may have come out in 1922, but Lang uses every trick in the book creating innovative images. I always enjoy the look of in camera effects which require perfect timing and a perfect technical set up.
Also, the cinematography is pretty great. Lang is credited with creating Film Noir and you can see it as early as this film. But like most of Lang’s black and white films, they always look better to me than comparable films of the period.
What I always like about Lang’s early films is his pacing. I never get bored even watching his lengthy silent films. I’ve tried to watch D.W. Griffith’s films and I’m asleep shortly after I press play. But Lang’s films really move and it makes them a lot easier to watch.
Also, what’s refreshing about Lang’s films is that they are made for adults. There are adult themes (violence, explosions, nudity) and the film doesn’t talk down to you. And the filmmaking is outstanding, but not in some artsy way that only film majors can appreciate. This film was a big big hit in Germany amongst normal people. And if you can get past the running time and lack of sound, the film is really a fantastical thriller that is supremely enjoyable.
The best way to watch silent films is as people would have seen them originally -- in a theater with live accompaniment. For me anyway, this makes the films more enjoyable and go by a lot faster. But if you don’t have any of these revival theaters in your area, you’ll be checking out the DVD. All of the movies I’m covering today are available in shiny Criterion Collection versions with educated commentaries and some interesting extra materials and most importantly -- gorgeous looking prints. They have period era accompaniment with the film. And when I used to watch silent films when I was younger, I used to just put on my own music. There’s nothing like watching BIRTH OF A NATION and listening to NINE INCH NAILS.
THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE (1933)
The silent film DR. MABUSE -- THE GAMBLER was so successful in Germany, it spawned a sequel. And this film was made in the sound era and is a reasonable running time at 2 full hours.
I was flipping through channels late one night and came across this film on TCM. I started watching it and was entranced. I had no idea what it was, but it looked gorgeous and as a supernatural thriller it got me interested right away. Looking it up, I was not surprised to see it was Fritz Lang.
While this film picks up where the last one left off, you don’t need to have seen the previous film as they explain to you all the things you really need to know.
While this is a sequel to DR. MABUSE -- THE GAMBLER, it was made right after M and actually shares a character -- Inspector Lohmann played by Otto Wernicke in both films.
In this film, Dr. Mabuse is in a mental hospital. The film starts with a murder and Lohmann is on the case. A snitch is killed before he can reveal details about the current criminal underworld. We meet many members of this underworld as they carry out their mysterious crimelord’s orders. We also meet two lovers, Tom and Lilli. We’ll have to wait through twists and intrigues to find out what all this has to do with each other.
This is Lang’s second sound film after M and he’s come a long way in his use of sound design. He uses sound to create mood and to emphasize plot points. It’s integral to his story in a really artful way.
And again, the cinematography is unreal. When I started watching this film the first time, not knowing what it was, I assumed it was from the 40s at least because of how it looked. But for 1933 it looks really amazing. I was also struck at how Lang's style is so modern. It's nothing like those older films you can't relate to or understand. It's shot just like something that'd be made these days.
Other than the pacing and modern style, what this film also inherits from the first film is the clever scenarios. Each murder, each con, each criminal act is cleverly thought out by our master criminal and fantastically staged by Lang.
Again, we have a police procedural where we watch Lohmann figure it all out. And every time you think you’ve figured it out, there’s a twist or some plot element that makes you question your assumptions. But it’s all for a reason and it’s best just to sit back and watch the pieces as they fall into place.
While the last film had a lot of hypnosis and even a seance, this film is even heavier on the psychology and spirits. Thanks to Freud, psychanalysis was very popular in Germany at the time and it runs throughout this film.
This film actually reminds me of many J-Horror films of recent years. There’s a supernatural aspect. In this film there are ghosts, which in recent years has become much more an Asian film trait than anywhere else. There’s a slow build to revelation of supernatural horror. And there’s a detective aspect to discovering it. Although this film is actually probably faster paced than most J-Horror films.
The crimelord in this film is literally ‘the man behind the curtain’ and the whole film builds to the moment when the curtain is pulled open to see who is pulling the strings. The crimelord in the film is a lot like a Keyser Soze type -- mysterious and all powerful.
The film is certainly aware of the Nazi situation in it’s country of origin and the parallels and negative commentary are there -- which caused the film to be banned in Germany upon release. But at the same time the film was banned, Lang was asked to join the Nazis and make films for them -- his talent was obvious but evidently they didn’t entirely understand his dislike of the Nazis.
A great allegory. A great thriller. A great tale of the psyche. And fantastic filmmaking. It’s got everything. I certainly really like it.
M (1931)
Children are being kidnapped and murdered and the city is in uproar. People are calling each other the murderer and unrest builds as the police are unable to make any head way in the case.
Inspector Lohmann (Otto Wenicke), in an effort to do something about the situation, has taken to raiding all the criminal enterprises on a regular basis. This has made the criminals rather unhappy. That, combined with their sense of societal duty, causes them to go after the murderer themselves.
And they do it much better than the police. The murderer is Hans Beckert (played by Peter Lorre of CASABLANCA and THE MALTESE FALCON fame). We never learn much about Beckert but he is a bit creepy -- with his bulging eyes and baby face. He claims he can’t help himself when confronted as the criminals hold their own trial in an abandoned factory.
The film was made in Germany as the Nazi influence was growing and presents a Germany full of fear. None of the characters in the film are all that sympathetic (except, of course, the child victims). And everyone in M’s Germany is afraid, uncertain and most of our major characters are criminals.
M has elements of a serial killer-type film, oft compared to the best modern films of the genre such as SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, and also a police procedural. But it’s not a battle of wits between criminal and cop like LAMBS or Lang’s MABUSE. One of the film’s strengths is that we don’t follow one singular character but get to see from different points of view. We see the police investigation in a way not dissimilar to an episode of LAW AND ORDER as they follow clues and hit dead ends. We see the serial killer as he hunts and tries not to. And we see the criminals and how it affects their lives. We even see a little of the rich people, but a lot of the poor people. Scenes of children playing in the streets strike fear into the viewer as one wonders who will be next.
But following multiple characters point of view puts the viewer in an interesting situation. For instance, when the criminals are searching out the murderer you both fear for the murderer that he will be caught and root for the criminals to catch him. This heightens the impact of an already very impactive film. It’s both a great cinematic piece as well as a fascinating look into the psyche of people. It helps you question whether what they are doing is right or not.
The film is one of Lang’s finest filmmaking efforts. There are many memorable and meaningful shots -- perhaps the most well known is that of the shadow of the murderer over the wanted poster which describe his deeds. There’s also a somewhat famous story about this film that is used to emphasize how difficult Lang could be where Peter Lorre was continually thrown down a flight of stairs to looks like he’d been thrown down a flight of stairs and to be in the correct state.
I just watched CASABLANCA recently in which Lorre has a small, but very likeable role and it was a bit of a shock to watch M again where he is so dislikable and so evil. Although billed as the star, he doesn’t actually get very much screentime but makes a fairly large impression.
Many consider M to be Lang’s best film. Yet it doesn’t have the entertainment factor of MABUSE and isn’t really a positive look at humanity. Nonetheless, for a real cineaste it’s an absolute must.
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