The 1,000 Eyes of Dr Mabuse. (12.)
Directed by Fritz Lang. 1962
Starring Dawn Addams, Peter Van Eyck, Gert Frobe, Wolfgang Preiss, Werner Peters, Andrea Checci, Marie Luise Nagel, Reinhard Kolldehoff, Howard Vernon, Marielouise Nagel. 101 mins. Out
Fritz Lang's final film stars Gert Frobe, the man who just two years later would play the greatest Bond villain, Goldfinger, and features the original Bond villain, Dr Mabuse. Mabuse began as a Weimar figure, a master of disguise and hypnosis at the heart of a shadowy spectre of evil, dreaming up and executing dastardly crimes and terrorist act, just for the fun of it. Lang made two films about him in the twenties and thirties; his third Mabuse film imagines the character reincarnated into 60s cold war paranoia.
The film begins with us being dealt a variety of cards with little indication of what kind of hand it is. After a stylish traffic jam murder, we are introduced to a variety of figures – a dogged police inspector (Forbe), a woman (Addams) coaxed out of throwing herself out of top-floor hotel window by "American" businessman (Van Eyck), a slimy insurance salesman hanging around a hotel bar (Peters) and a blind clairvoyant Mr Cornelius (Preiss) who dresses like Karl Lagerfeld. Events are centred around the Luxor hotel, built by the Nazis as a way to spy on the top people. Who of these people are Mabuse?
This Mabuse does have the shadowy expressionism of Lang's earlier versions. Indeed, the look is relatively flat, like TV dramas of the period. This is emphasised by the abrupt transitions between scenes where the person has barely stopped speaking when we are whisked away to the next scene. In the commentary Lang expert David Kalat calls this "shattered glass" editing, a way of introducing a variety of narrative strands and off footing viewers by not letting them know who the lead character was, who was the hero. Maybe so, but its indecent haste to whisk us on to the next scene made you think it was being made to fit into a strict time slot.
So, this is no final masterpiece, but it is engaging and fun to keep you involved for an hour and a half. The identity of Mabuse isn't a great surprise but the film does deliver a few genuinely clever twists and has an agreeable oft kilter quality.
Extras.
LIMITED EDITION O-CARD SLIPCASE [2000 Units]
Directed by Fritz Lang. 1962
Starring Dawn Addams, Peter Van Eyck, Gert Frobe, Wolfgang Preiss, Werner Peters, Andrea Checci, Marie Luise Nagel, Reinhard Kolldehoff, Howard Vernon, Marielouise Nagel. 101 mins. Out
Fritz Lang's final film stars Gert Frobe, the man who just two years later would play the greatest Bond villain, Goldfinger, and features the original Bond villain, Dr Mabuse. Mabuse began as a Weimar figure, a master of disguise and hypnosis at the heart of a shadowy spectre of evil, dreaming up and executing dastardly crimes and terrorist act, just for the fun of it. Lang made two films about him in the twenties and thirties; his third Mabuse film imagines the character reincarnated into 60s cold war paranoia.
The film begins with us being dealt a variety of cards with little indication of what kind of hand it is. After a stylish traffic jam murder, we are introduced to a variety of figures – a dogged police inspector (Forbe), a woman (Addams) coaxed out of throwing herself out of top-floor hotel window by "American" businessman (Van Eyck), a slimy insurance salesman hanging around a hotel bar (Peters) and a blind clairvoyant Mr Cornelius (Preiss) who dresses like Karl Lagerfeld. Events are centred around the Luxor hotel, built by the Nazis as a way to spy on the top people. Who of these people are Mabuse?
This Mabuse does have the shadowy expressionism of Lang's earlier versions. Indeed, the look is relatively flat, like TV dramas of the period. This is emphasised by the abrupt transitions between scenes where the person has barely stopped speaking when we are whisked away to the next scene. In the commentary Lang expert David Kalat calls this "shattered glass" editing, a way of introducing a variety of narrative strands and off footing viewers by not letting them know who the lead character was, who was the hero. Maybe so, but its indecent haste to whisk us on to the next scene made you think it was being made to fit into a strict time slot.
So, this is no final masterpiece, but it is engaging and fun to keep you involved for an hour and a half. The identity of Mabuse isn't a great surprise but the film does deliver a few genuinely clever twists and has an agreeable oft kilter quality.
Extras.
LIMITED EDITION O-CARD SLIPCASE [2000 Units]
- 1080p presentation on Blu-ray
- Original German soundtrack
- Optional English audio track, approved by Fritz Lang
- Optional English subtitles
- Feature-length audio commentary by film-scholar and Lang expert David Kalat
- 2002 interview with Wolfgang Preiss
- Alternate ending
- Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned and original poster artwork
- A collector’s booklet featuring a new essay by Philip Kemp; vintage reprints of writing by Lang; an essay by David Cairns; notes by Lotte Eisner on Lang’s final, unrealised projects
