Müde Tod, Der (1921)

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Fritz Lang (writer)
Thea von Harbou (writer)

Release Date:

30 enero 1922 (Finland)

Genre:

Fantasy

Plot:

As a young couple stops and rests in a small village inn, the man is abducted by Death and is sequestered behind a huge doorless...

Plot Keywords:

Death | Expressionism | Expressionist

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Otherworldly

Cast

Lil Dagover	...	Junges Maedchen / Zobeide / Fiametta / Tiaotsien
Walter Janssen	...	Der junge Mann / Franke / Francesco / Liang
Bernhard Goetzke	...	Der Tod / El Mot / Bogner
Rudolf Klein-Rogge	...	Derwisch / Girolamo
Hans Sternberg	...	Buergermeister
Erich Pabst	...	Lehrer
listado alfabético del resto del reparto:
Max Adalbert	...	Notar / Schatzmeister
Grete Berger	...	Mutter
Paul Biensfeldt	...	Ahi
Lewis Brody	...	Mohr
Wilhelm Diegelmann	...	Arzt
Hellmuth Hiemstra	...	Vertraute des Girolamo
Georg John	...	Bettler
Edgar Klitzsch	...	Arzt
Karl Kuszar	...	Kaiser
Loisia Lehnert	...	Mutter
Lothar Müthel	...	Vertrauter
Neumann-Schüler	...	Henker
Lina Paulsen	...	Amme
Edgar Pauly	...	Vertraute des Girolamo
Hermann Picha	...	Schneider
Karl Platen	...	Apotheker
Lydia Potechina	...	Wirtin
Charles Puffy		(as Karl Huszar)
Paul Rehkopf	...	Kuester
Ernst Rückert	...	Pfarrer
Erika Unruh	...	Aisha
Hermann Vallentin
Eduard von Winterstein	...	Kalif
Marie Wismar	...	Alte Frau

También conocida como:

Between Two Worlds (USA)
Between Worlds (USA)
Beyond the Wall
Destiny (UK)
The Three Lights (UK)
The Weary Death (USA) (literal English title)
Tres luces, Las (Spain) [es]

Duración:

105 min (16 fps) | USA:114 min

País:

Germany

Idioma:

German

Color:

Black and White | Color (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sonido:

Silent

Clasificación:

Germany:12

Company:

Decla-Bioscop AG

Trivialidades:

Alfred Hitchcock's favorite film.

Quotes:

Junge Maedchen: You dread, awful cactus, you!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Macario (1960)

Otherworldly

The films of Weimer Germany are an interesting and exciting period to study. They share a rich cultural heritage, similar themes and revolutionary film styles and techniques. 'Destiny' ('Der Müde Tod') is the earliest mature work I've seen from Fritz Lang, one of the period's principal filmmakers--much better than the Spiders films. It's expressionistic, in the loose sense usually applied to these films, which is to say it's thematically dark and, occasionally, photographed and designed intentionally to affect mood and express emotions. An exceptional crew of cinematographers and art directors, as in many of the best films of the period, support the director.

Yet, I think the narrative has its faults; the frame narrative is great, but only the last of the three episodes within was entertaining--for its light and magical treatment. In the film, a girl's young lover dies, and Death offers her three tries to resurrect his life. The episodes are flimsy at times, but some impressive imagery and powerful performances by Lil Dagover and Bernhard Goetzke make up for much of that. Additionally, the exotic Arabian, historical Venetian and Chinese settings for the three inner episodes are well rendered, surely, but it's the haunting graveyard scenes and the meetings with Death, especially the room of candles scenes, that I'll remember. They're not merely exotic; they're otherworldly--the atmospheric, moving and imaginative places I want movies to take me.