IMDb RATING
7.6/10
6.7K
YOUR RATING
When a woman's fiancé disappears, Death gives her three chances to save him from his fate.When a woman's fiancé disappears, Death gives her three chances to save him from his fate.When a woman's fiancé disappears, Death gives her three chances to save him from his fate.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
Karl Rückert
- Reverend
- (as Carl Rückert)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAlfred Hitchcock's favorite film.
- Quotes
Junge Maedchen: You dread, awful cactus, you!
- Alternate versionsDVD "Destiny (Der müd Tod)" (c) 2000 by Film Preservation Associates, with English titles and inter-titles by Ulrich Ruedel, tinted with added musical score, running at 99 minutes.
- ConnectionsEdited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Une histoire seule (1989)
Featured review
Otherworldly
The films of Weimar 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 series. It's somewhat 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.
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.
helpful•153
- Cineanalyst
- Oct 11, 2005
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Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $12,156
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $2,334
- May 22, 2016
- Gross worldwide
- $12,156
- Runtime1 hour 54 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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