Yet another fascinating essay on the silent era of...

2009-07-08T22:02:05.005-04:00

Yet another fascinating essay on the silent era of a film I am most familiar with, and which I own on DVd along with the others in this trilogy. Yes, the three "M"'s indeed are what lang will always be most celebrated for. (the Peter Lorre M is his masterpiece).

"It is a venture into Langian territory as an exploration of an amoral society and its general lack of salvation (insanity, it seems, proves to be an unsettling refuge for characters). It is also a question in free will and self-control; Mabuse's preferred method is the cracking open of another's psyche and controlling that person from the inside — an imperfect mode of manipulation, of course, but horrifying in its success rate."

Beautiful elaboration of this film's most exemplary premise, yet I must agree that it's long, tedious and often plodding. My colleague Allan Fish and I are in agreement with this film. In the line of comparative thinking I concur on both vital points you make here:

"Dr. Mabuse lacks the visual surprises of Der Müde Tod, but the first half is peppered with optical delights, including a mesmerizing camera technique for a moment when Mabuse is seducing a victim under hypnosis and the lens slightly zooms toward his face while the rest of the scene fades to black, his seemingly disembodied glowing white head floating in the middle of the frame."

Splendid.

Ah the old 'first film noir' gets applied here now too? Ha! Well, I guess this can be applied to a number of films. Interesting proposal there that Hitchcock was influened here in crafted his 1934 classic THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH.

I have always found the most fascinating plot hook was the use of hypnotism, while thematically it was always notable as a visualization of German decadence, as you imply in your discussion there of amorality.

Again, fabulous work here.

Comments on Screen Savour: Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (1922)

Yet another fascinating essay on the silent era of...