Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
RANKED:
15. The 1,000 Eyes of Mr. Mabuse (1960)
In his last film before his death, Fritz Lang pulled out all the old 'Fritz Lang' stops. In the final installment of the 'Dr. Mabuse' trilogy, Lang presents a paranoid world of people being manipulated by the all seeing Mabuse. Venting out the frustration and fear regarding Cold War-era Germany, this film carries the dread of Lang's earlier work and infuses it with an action-centric narrative.
14. Clash by Night (1952)
The fear over social decay in the 1940s transitioned to the more intimate domestic life of individuals in the 1950s. The darkness of domesticity is at the heart of Lang's "Clash by Night." What really drives the piece is the seething anger bubbling under the surface of small-town simple life.
13. House by the River (1950)
The violence and disorder of the war cast a dark shadow over the psyche of an American landscape. With "House by the River," Lang explored the psychotic workings of a serial killer. Through his longings for violence, he creates a sickening reality for those around him, including himself. However, the bodies you cast in the river always seem to find their way back to the surface.
12. The Woman in the Window (1944)
In this dark film noir, Lang explores a 'what-if' scenario of following your indulgences. A man decides to break the cycle of his moral superiority and go home with a beautiful woman. The rest of the night seems to change his entire life all together. This philosophy professor must enact a series of morally ambiguous decisions to save himself from unambiguous punishment. In the end, the film reflects on the minuscule happenstances that occur that can cause of ripple effect that could derail your entire life.
11. Die Nibelungen (1924)
"Die Nibelungen" takes place in a different place, a different world, and with different creatures and characters. However, the point of the film is not how different it all is to us, but how similar. With this fantasy flick, the characters demonstrate bravery, sacrifice, malice, betrayal, rage, and all other dimensions of human life. We see a world created and destroyed. We see relationships form and crumble. We see the rise of fall of humanity itself. The film is considered by many to be the first fantasy film. What it teaches us about the genre is that these fantastical imaginings hit closer to reality than we might...well...imagine.
10. Hangmen Also Die! (1943)
At the height of World War II, Nazi terror reigned in Europe. In retaliation of that terror, filmmakers began making anti-Nazi propaganda films. One of these, Fritz Lang's "Hangmen Also Die!" showcases the unity of opposition necessary to combat these vile foes. Taking place in Nazi-occupied Prague, the film demonstrates the intricate techniques the regime used to crack down on organized dissent. The film is a rallying cry to those still under the thumb of the contemporary threat.
9. You Only Live Once (1937)
In a film that inspired a lot of film noir tropes to come, "You Only Live Once" showcased Lang's ability to demonstrate the moral corruption of the viewer. We see Henry Fonda play a man recently released from prison, trying to settle down on the morally righteous path with his girlfriend. However, the external pressure and all around vile behavior by everyone around him forces him into a state of moral corruption. This descent is paralleled with the viewer's subjective conditioning of the protagonist, as Lang exposes the fallacy of our own righteous conceptions about ourselves.
8. Scarlet Street (1945)
Fritz Lang loved to make very bleak films. With his 1945 film "Scarlet Street," we see him at perhaps his bleakest. The film centers on an artist who falls for a woman. What he doesn't know is that the woman and her slimy boyfriend are stealing from him. With this tableau of deception, Lang presents a society solely focused on pleasing their individual indulgent whims. The utter selfish pursuits of each characters create a natural deterioration of human connection, leaving a world without any trace of hope or solidarity.
7. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
After the Nazis took power in Germany in 1933, Fritz Lang released his psychological political thriller, "The Testament of Dr. Mabuse." In this film, we see Germany in a state of criminal chaos, seemingly for the sake of creating chaos in itself. All of this chaos is demanded by a man none of them truly know or can see. In this sequel to the 1922 Dr. Mabuse film, the titular character is only ever showcased as a insane inmate, or a phantom. Through this demonstration of Mabuse's plans for a criminal empire built upon fear and terror, we see a contemporary Germany, held hostage by paranoia and desperation. In the end, the death of Mabuse does not stop the madness. Rather, the madness has psychologically demented the minds of everyone involved.
6. Fury (1936)
After fleeing Germany, Fritz Lang arrived in the United States and made his 1936 film, "Fury." The film is an exploration of, well, fury. Fury and rage that seethes at the heart of both the collective and the individual. Lang presents a step by step process of how ignorance, bigotry, and intolerance can ignite mass hysteria and override rational thought (something he was familiar with coming from Germany). However, Lang turns that collective anger around on us and demonstrates how we too get swept up in fury and perceived justice. With this film, Lang is showing us just how susceptible we are to letting our emotions get the better of our rational mind.
5. The Big Heat (1953)
It's a bit notable that one of the most efficiently executed film noirs in film history also has no aesthetical consistencies with the genre. This is because Fritz Lang took the film noir structure and cut away its usual excesses. With "The Big Heat," Lang demonstrates how a story can be subtly dark while remaining visually open. Darkness does not surround the visual framing, like many from the genre. Rather, the dark subject matters occur in broad daylight and well-lit apartments. With this, Lang is openly showing the decaying morality of an American populace. The film can be even darker with the added notion that the protagonist does not realize the carnage he created for everyone in his life and believes himself to be the ultimate hero in the end. Sound like America?
4. Destiny (1921)
Destiny often refers to the inevitable fate of one's life. With Fritz Lang's 1921 silent piece, "Destiny," death is the only certainty awaiting all of us. After the death and destruction of the first World War, many Germans were in a state of anxiety over death. This film acts as a sort of expressionist practice in Lang overcoming these anxieties. By giving death a face, Lang is free to use the film medium to overcome him. However, even through film, Lang is not able to bypass this fate.
3. M (1931)
With his 1931 masterpiece, "M," Fritz Lang is able to showcase a society in a chaotic frenzy, as they attempt to catch a child killer. This frenzy leads to tunnel vision effects, creating moral certainties. However, Lang rips the rug out from under these moral certainties, demonstrating how being swept up in the pursuit of justice causes an irrational state. The film lays bear the complexity of human justice. The push and pull of what needs to happen to accomplish justice leads to some interesting questions about social order, and what needs to be sacrificed to maintain that order.
2. Dr. Mabuse - The Gambler (1922)
In the aftermath of the first World War, Germany was in a state of societal instability. With his masterpiece, "Dr. Mabuse - Der Spieler," Fritz Lang captures that instability onto film. In the thicket of this chaos, he creates Dr. Mabuse, the inevitability lurking in the darkness, ready to take advantage. Mabuse sows more and more chaos so that he may operate within it and create his empire. The fear and indulgence of this Germany society created a vacuum that only an authoritarian could fix. Many consider this film predictive of the rise of Adolf Hitler, as Mabuse can be viewed as his stand-in. Mabuse hypnotizes others to perform his dark whims, further creating imbalances in the stability of a society ruled by fear - as they combat this fear with frivolity and indulgence.
1. Metropolis (1927)
Considered a masterpiece by all, "Metropolis" stands above the other films of the silent era. Expertly crafted by Fritz Lang, the film is steeped in past, present, and future. Set in the far future, this film tells of the inevitable empire of our technologally surging world. This society ruled by machines inevitably creates a separation of the classes, turns humans themselves into machines, and creates modern advancements in propaganda and control. Through the narrative of the film, a Christ figure is required to bridge the gap in humanity in a cold, mechanical world. "Metropolis" was a vision of the future, filled with present anxieties about industrialism and capitalism, while creating an antidote steeped in past religious concepts. The film conceptually was unparalleled, both in its scope of genre bending, as well as its immaculately conceived visuals. No silent film had ever come close to this unyielding monolith.
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