Michael_Elliott The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Fritz Lang's follow-up to his 1922 DR. MABUSE: THE GAMBLER finds the crazed doctor locked in a mental asylum where he hasn't said a word since his capture. Overtime he began doing strange drawings but it's nothing more than rubbish. Or is it? Pretty soon an Inspector is investigating these strange writings and whether or not Mabuse is communicating with someone on the outside.Lang once again hits a home run in regards to his beloved Dr. Mabuse character. There's no question that the original movie was a landmark for German cinema and even this film has its place in history. I say this because many believe the film was a warning against the Nazi party that was rising in Germany and it ended up getting the film banned for over twenty years. Lang also left Germany after making this film and wouldn't return until the end of his career. There's a lot going on in THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE and it's certainly highly entertaining.I think what I enjoyed most about the film is that we are given several strong characters who are doing battle here. Usually in these type of crime films you have a good guy and a bad guy but that's not the case here because we get at least six strong characters. The Inspector was certainly a lot of fun and the evil Dr. Mabuse gets many great scenes. You've also got Kent, a broke man who finally manages to get a job but he isn't quite ready for what he's gotten himself into. There's also a doctor who finds himself knowing a bit too much for his own good.The characters are all extremely strong and help keep the film moving but there's also Lang's masterful direction. There are a lot of twists and turns throughout the film but Lang keeps everything moving at a fast pace and he also manages to not make the film too confusing as to where people can't follow it. Visually the film is quite impressive and especially the "ghosts" and their hauntings. THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE isn't quite as great as METROPOLIS or M but there's no question that it's another very good picture from Lang.

Vihren Mitev Movie that can be pointed as the first watchable two-hour action. Because back in 1933, when it was created, it was very special creation of the film industry. It offers us convoluted crime drama in the style of Hitchcock. It has everything - love story, an evil genius, fraud for millions and car chase.Dark and gloomy conception of evil villain has gone full circle from the beginning of the film stripping all the way to the very end which in no way differs from the beginning except exchanged roles of some of the main suspects. The truth also is undergoing its metamorphosis decides to take the hand of love, to come out openly and repent for its present silence. The eternal asking justice vigilantly monitor compliance with the order and manages to instill fear among criminals.After a long pursuit, in which perhaps the first time we see the clear expression of the German brand Mercedes, where, incidentally, is this film coming from, pieces of the puzzle intervene for the last time, this time - correctly.The tape also has an interesting history - having been damaged, the movie was forbidden, and finally becoming available to the modern spectator.http://vihrenmitevmovies.blogspot.fr/

Ersbel Oraph Like the other films of Friz Lang, this is an authoritarian movie. When you watch a film noir from the Hayes code era you get the same idea. But not as strong. Yet Germany did not have a Hayes code. When in States that was imposed, the studios wanted to comply. In the case of Lang this is no compliance. This is his wish. His dream world.Maybe Lang was just depicting the German society in Berlin those days. But I can't help remarking the irony of the compatibility between his artistic expression and the Germany wanted by the Nazi. Of the stupid detail standing between them: Lang's grandparents. If they were anything but Jewish, maybe Lang would have shot the Triumph of the Will.Contact me with Questions, Comments or Suggestions ryitfork @ bitmail.ch

kurosawakira I have yet to see the first Mabuse film, something I'm more than willing to do now that I've encountered this lovely, masterful film. It's a brilliant tour de force in film-making, not only in technique but in narrative as well, and also a uniquely brave and astute exploration of sound in film. Consider that this is the man's second sound film, and that sound film hadn't been around that long in the first place. The sound. This is amongst the funniest films I've ever seen. Not the kind of Marx Brothers witticism-kind of funny, but filmically funny: humorous, yes, but easygoing in the cinematic sense, where one astonishingly acute and functional idea is followed by another, resulting in a frantic display of discovery and joy. That kind of funny. There are various moments of the kind here, from the sound transition from the ticking of the bomb to breaking an egg with a spoon to the visual transitions of opening a book and entering its plot in the next shot.Wernicke is just as brilliant as one might expect, and his Lohmann has become an insignia of sorts. Everything works. Even Wera Liessem's overtly shallow Lilli works in the context of the film, her near-swooning love for Kent reducing her to a mere ornament without much to add, but the general ambiance of the film allows for that, indeed makes it work.I see this as a film that's not as serious as deemed by some, indeed even by its director. I do understand and by no means disregard the Nazi reading, but to merely reduce this wonderfully riotous film to a mere prophecy of the Nazi regime is, in the long run, something I find to be very harmful. Indeed, I again understand Lang's willingness to pinpoint his distaste for the Nazi party by exhuming evidence from his films, but that's something we really don't need to do, since "Mabuse" works so effortlessly on its own. You read all the historical bleakness into it you want, and at times it is strikingly shivering, but more than anything I cherish this film for being a cinematic triumph much in the free-spirited vein of Vigo and Yamanaka."Mabuse" has been released on Blu-ray (region B) by the Masters of Cinema series in a lovely steelbook, whose only shortcoming is that it doesn't include the French version of the film that, incidentally, is included on the Criterion Collection DVD.