Dr. Mabuse has to be the best-written and most harrowing villain ever created in the 20th century, and it's pretty amazing that he came so early. Fritz Lang's four-hour action-adventure mystery silent film is anything but an epic, and also is so good it doesn't even feel epic. Instead, for once, a four hour movie has been created where every scene and every moment has character development and meaning.
It's no wonder this film comes from post-war, pre-Nazi Germany. It's filled with anxiety and angst about the times... and indeed says, in many different places, "of the times." It is a work of public psychology that revels in the fear of hegemonic control, structures itself around what is perceived to be a downward spiral, and fills the screen with every reminder of the decay. Indeed, the villainous Dr. Mabuse does not only inhabit physically most of the screen time (are you sure he's not there? Look again), but his nefarious presence seems felt in even the most remote circumstance within the narrative.
Dr. Mabuse is not the only character, however. This film is filled with such good character development I don't think anything matches it up until Seven Samurai. There's Mr. Hull, the playboy victim of Mabuse who manages, in his short time in the narrative, to develop extreme sympathy for him before he dies. There's Ms. Carozza, the woman who falls for Mabuse so hard that she manages to subvert her own love for him through her own piety to him. And there's my favorite character of all, the Duchess, who's quixotic and energetic presence not only lights up the screen with splendor but also captures the affections of the silent era's greatest villain.
But you want to know something cool? Not only is this movie a veritable work of character-constructed art, it also has explosions, gun battles, intrigue, gambling, and sex! You can have your art and entertainment too! I can see why Fritz Lang returned to these characters over and over again. Not only are they fascinating in their own right, but they inhabit a world darkly appealing in its excesses and shadow play. This movie, despite its strong connection to "the times", is as much a work of consummate fantasy.
--PolarisDiB
It's no wonder this film comes from post-war, pre-Nazi Germany. It's filled with anxiety and angst about the times... and indeed says, in many different places, "of the times." It is a work of public psychology that revels in the fear of hegemonic control, structures itself around what is perceived to be a downward spiral, and fills the screen with every reminder of the decay. Indeed, the villainous Dr. Mabuse does not only inhabit physically most of the screen time (are you sure he's not there? Look again), but his nefarious presence seems felt in even the most remote circumstance within the narrative.
Dr. Mabuse is not the only character, however. This film is filled with such good character development I don't think anything matches it up until Seven Samurai. There's Mr. Hull, the playboy victim of Mabuse who manages, in his short time in the narrative, to develop extreme sympathy for him before he dies. There's Ms. Carozza, the woman who falls for Mabuse so hard that she manages to subvert her own love for him through her own piety to him. And there's my favorite character of all, the Duchess, who's quixotic and energetic presence not only lights up the screen with splendor but also captures the affections of the silent era's greatest villain.
But you want to know something cool? Not only is this movie a veritable work of character-constructed art, it also has explosions, gun battles, intrigue, gambling, and sex! You can have your art and entertainment too! I can see why Fritz Lang returned to these characters over and over again. Not only are they fascinating in their own right, but they inhabit a world darkly appealing in its excesses and shadow play. This movie, despite its strong connection to "the times", is as much a work of consummate fantasy.
--PolarisDiB