Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (Fritz Lang; 1922)

For several months, Fritz Lang has had the unique honor of having directed two of my most treasured silent films, Der Müde Tod and Metropolis [if he were alive, I think he would be very proud of this]. Sadly, before tonight, these are the only two silent films I’ve seen from him.

Well, he can now boast three silent favorites. Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler is one of the most wickedly entertaining films I’ve seen. And as silent crime serials (sort of) go, it’s far beyond Les Vampires (which is indeed about crime, not vampires) or Judex – although I certainly like both of those. And that may be ultimately because Dr. Mabuse isn’t just about crime; it’s about people. The upper class, in all their rich glory, have all the wealth but no purpose. This is alluded to be a few lines of dialog, such as:
“We are bored and tired, Mr. von Wenk! We need sensations of a very special kind to keep us alive!”
But not only are there intertitled cues – it’s in the very visual approach. The rich are generally shown to in muted compositions, in dynamic-less poses (picture below). Compare this to almost any shot with Dr. Mabuse (such as the one in the image above), who almost always commands the visual center and focus of the screen. Of course, this could be interpreted as glorifying crime [“Here's some boring old fuddie-duddies in all their wealth, but heeeere’s…DR. MABUSE, KING OF CRIME!”], as I believe Les Vampires was accused of being (which is really the only reason I’m bringing it up). That may be true on a technical scale, but it turns out to be rather unimportant. On one hand, I can’t imagine anyone walking away from the film thinking “Crime: fuck yeah!” and more importantly, Mabuse eventually goes insane from his crimes. Not cool.

It may not be the most poignant social commentary [I suppose you could mutter something about the depression of post-war Germany – but I won’t go there], but it’s effective enough for what it is. Any sort of quasi-depth aside, the film’s terrifically entertaining. Dr. Mabuse, with his trusty variety of disguises, robs a train, messes with the stock market, and hypnotizes people to cheat at blackjack. One of the film’s best sequences arises out of his blackjack schemes: as part of Inspector Von Wenk’s ruse to track down Mabuse, he plays blackjack with Mabuse as dealer. As Mabuse stares at Von Wenk, trying to hypnotize him, the people surrounding Mabuse gradually fade into black, and the camera zooms in as Mabuse’s face enlarges the screen. While not exactly modern in its approach, it’s easily one of the most visually striking moments in silent films [equalled only by, say, Metropolis?].

Overall, yeah, the film is 4+ hours long, and silent to boot, but it flies by faster than most other films, silent or no. And you can no doubt thank Fritz Lang for that.

Of course, if nothing else, it’s great because it opens with the intertitles of
“You have taken cocaine again, Spoerri! You know that I do not tolerate that! If I see you one more time in such a state I will drive you out like a dog!”
“If you drive me out…I shall shoot myself in the head -- !”
Brilliant.

#2 of 5 for Lang.