German Expressionist director who made a name for himself in the 1920s. He later moved to the US where he would go on to direct more generic genre films. A cinematic heavyweight, but hardly my favorite of his era.
Movies
Fritz Lang's German period is by far his best and most artistic. I've seen a fair few German films from that era, but I still get amazed whenever I notice how stylish and fantastical these films are, especially for their age (Die Nibelungen is almost a century old now). Siegfried is no exception. The golden/sepia cinematography is lovely, the fantastical elements look pretty solid, and the story isn't too serious. The length and somewhat slower and more repetitive middle part is the only thing keeping me from giving a higher score. I'm looking forward to catching Long's other part now.Read all
Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge
More proof that Fritz Lang made his best films in Germany, during the 1920s. The scope and creativity of these films are unmatched for their time, and they're a far stretch from the more generic genre work Lang would deliver once he moved to the US. Kriemheld's Revenge isn't quite as good as Siegfried, but it's an interesting enough film. 130 minutes is a bit too long for a silent film, even though it is pretty epic. There are some very impressive scenes (the fires, in particular, look spectacular), and the styling of the film is well ahead of its time, it's just that the plot is a little simple and the pacing is a tad slow. Worth a watch though.Read all
Germany, the 1920s. They were a promising time for cinema. Fritz Lang was one of the prime directors of that era, Destiny was one of his very first films. It's a bona fide genre film, with strong fantasy elements and some minor horror crossovers. It's mostly just very visual and expressive cinema. So this is basically a multi-cultural fantasy anthology, with several stories combined into a wraparound segment. The fantasy elements are fun, the pacing is slick and there's plenty of variation here. Death is also a pretty cool character. The age and limited technical capabilities don't work in the film's favor, but other than that, a decent classic.Read all
Another Lang noir. There's a bit of a disconnect in my brain between the Lang making silent epics like Metropolis, and the Lang making noirs in the US. A film like Scarlet Street certainly feels a lot less special, it's a typical genre flick that does little to set itself apart from its peers. That said, it's far from the worst noir I've seen. I've been watching quite a few classic noirs and the setup rarely deviates. There's a lot of empty dialogue, slightly too much drama that finds little support from the basic characters, and a more tense ending, usually involving murder in a rainy setting. That's pretty much what you can expect from Scarlet Street.Read all
One of Fritz Lang's early USA films. His move to the US drove him to the noir genre, a disappointing switch that made the latter half of his career a lot less appealing. You Only Live Once falls prey to the pitfalls most 30s films faced: exaggerated performances mixed with an overabundance of dialogue. The performances are overstated, the plot is pretty simplistic and the endless chatter is distracting. The final third gets a bit more visual, with some moodier moments, but the black-and-white cinematography isn't distinguished enough to make a real difference. It's all just very generic.Read all
After seeing Lang's Dr. Mabuse earlier this week, his American film-noir work does start to make a bit more sense to me. There's still somewhat of a disconnect, as they are films with very different vibes, but at least I understand now that his fascination with crime cinema has always been there. Lang's Fury is a pretty moralistic tale that's a bit too unsubtle and heavy-handed to make a real impression. The performances are mediocre, the plot not too convincing and the styling pretty average. The pacing is decent though and the finale is slightly better than the rest of it, but I think I prefer Lang's German films.Read all
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
A film that felt surprisingly modern, though for once it's not really meant as a 100% compliment. Mabuse isn't unlike a bunch of police thrillers from the 90s, with the cops chasing the case of a mysterious serial killer. I think I would've preferred a full-on German Expressionist film, but with the introduction of sound that era was clearly dying. Lang didn't forget his learnings from 20s silent cinema, but the introduction of sound puts more focus on the narrative, which ultimately made it a more tedious affair, certainly at 120 minutes. The case is quite interesting and the pacing is decent, it's just that the execution is rather basic. But if you like these kinds of police thrillers, then this is well ahead of its time. Read all
Fritz Lang going all out. In this almost 5-hour lasting epic, Lang tried to cram in everything he figured would fit in a crime flick. The result is pretty bloated of course, and in dire need of an editor, but one has to commend Lang on creating one of the earliest blueprint of rise and fall crime cinema. Though the pacing isn't too bad, the plot and characters are pretty simplistic. There's certainly not enough material to fill more than 4 hours of film, I wouldn't be surprised if some shorter cuts were a bit easier to sit through. On the other hand, it's not quite as boring as I feared, so at least this wasn't a complete bust. Recommended if you like 20s German cinema and big crime epics, it's not really for me though.Read all
One of Fritz Lang's final films. Lang isn't my favorite 20s German director, but he certainly was a man with talent and vision. A lot of that went missing when he moved to America, where he ended up doing mediocre genre fluff. Point in case, this generic film-noir, which feels much older than it is. The static camera work and the basic black-and-white cinematography make it look like a film from the 40s. The plot is rather generic, the characters are one-dimensional and dreary, and the runtime is too long. I'm sure genre fans will find proper filler here, for me, there's just not enough appeal in these films.Read all
Another one of Lang's US noirs. His move to the US probably helped his career along, but it didn't increase the quality or the scope of his films. This is another minor production, peppered with bad performances, endless dialogues, and crummy thriller elements. At this point, that's all I'm expecting from these noirish films. Human Desire is a bit more serious than most, but because the dramatic nor the romantic elements are done well it doesn't really work. The thriller bits are dull, the film is too slow for its own good and the finale lacks impact because of it. This isn't a film I'll be remembering for long.Read all
Fritz Lang goes noir. This is only my third Lang film, so it was a bit disheartening to see he went from directing sprawling mood pieces to dialogue-based narratives. I'm not a big noir fan, too many needless dialogues, twist-based narratives and samey characters. Lang's film did nothing to change that perception. On the contrary, The Big Heat is a pretty standard noir flick. When a respected police man kills himself, there are no clues as to why he did it. Inspector Dave Bannion is put on the case and it's no surprise that he discovers it isn't just a regular suicide. A typical noir plot in other words. The films rarely goes beyond living rooms and bars, people jabber on endlessly and from time to time someone gets killed. The performances are terribly wooden though, the atmosphere is very minimal and I really didn't care for any of the twists. At least the film was rather short, but with nothing there to keep my attention, that didn't offer much consolation.Read all
Hollywood is the mecca of cinema, but few directors ended up making better films once they finally moved over there. Fritz Lang is another example of a man who had something interesting to add while working in Germany, but completely lost his touch once he crossed the ocean. The performances are mediocre, the drama is tiresome and the noir elements don't add much to the film. Clash by Night is also too long for its simple premise and Lang's direction is inconspicuous. It's another forgettable noir from a director who is capable of much more.Read all
Just last week I watched Lang's first Nibelungen, the contrast couldn't be any bigger. Instead of an imaginative, visual spectacle, The Woman in the Window is a very typical noir, including a crummy murder scene, simplistic characters and lots (and I mean, LOTS) of dialogue. What a waste of talent. The performances are pretty weak, the story is just a copy/paste job from a million other noirs, the film is way too long for what is just a very basic plot. No doubt noir fans will find a lot to love here, as the film doesn't really deviate from the genre norm, but I think I could probably do with a little noir timeout right about now.Read all
