Special Season: August 20 - September 3
Fritz Lang's Fatal Vision
Directing some of the most highly acclaimed films of all-time, Fritz Lang (1890-1976) was the master of both expressionism and film noir. In short, he was one of the creative giants of both German and American Cinema. Described as a film director's director, Lang was a virtuoso of the moving image, a romantic fatalist whose body of work has a constistency and richness rarely matched by other film-makers. His cinematic world was largely populated by criminals, psychopaths, prostitutes and maladjusted personalities; a deterministic world ruled by the inevitability of fate.
Bypassing the most obvious and widely screened materpieces (Metropolis & M, and appearing ten years after the Melbourne Cinémathèque's highly successful Lang season, this season of specially imported 35mm prints seeks to explore other key treasures of Lang's moddy, fatalistic oeuvre, including the recent restoration of his renowned Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler, a film that had been butchered to a fraction of its original length, and another underworld thriller, the little known, long considered lost, Die Vier um die Frau.
Fritz Lang (seated at the camera) on the shoot for 'Metropolis'.
Lang's often undervalued American work is represented in this season by 3 seminal noirs: Scarelett Street, demonstrating the ruinous effect of carnal desire; You Only Live Once, a tender study of social injustice; and Fury, his searing assault on the psychology of mob violence. Also included is his dreamlike swashbuckling adventure, Moonfleet, a poetic child's eye view of the adult world that was rated by Jonathon Rosenbaum as one of the greatest films of all-time.
August 20 - 7:00pm
Moonfleet
Fritz Lang (1955) 89 mins PG
One of Lang’s most magical, dynamic, soulful & dreamlike films is a key work in the critical appreciation of the director’s career, largely neglected in America but widely regarded in Europe as amongst the seminal works of ‘50s cinema. In 18th century England a young orphaned boy befriends the charismatic head of a smuggling ring (Stewart Granger). This windswept, austerely designed & brilliantly staged adventure was Lang’s only ‘scope film, a form he would famously deride in Godard’s Contempt. With George Sanders, Joan Greenwood & an evocative score by Miklos Rozsa.
Imported 35mm print.August 20 - 8:35pm
Fury
Fritz Lang (1936) 94 mins
Lang’s 1st American film is a sharp & terrifying study of mass hysteria & mob rule as the citizens of a small town try to lynch an innocent murder suspect. Spencer Tracy survives, however, & returns to take revenge. Co-scripted by Lang this seminal & still-potent film reintroduces the director’s characteristically fatalistic & pessimistic preoccupation with characters trapped by the machinations of society. With Sylvia Sidney & Walter Brennan.
Imported 35mm print courtesy of Filmmuseum Berlin.August 20 - 10:15pm
Die Vier Um Die Frau
Fritz Lang (1921)
Long considered lost & only rediscovered in Brazil in 1986, this precursor to the Dr. Mabuse films was co-written by regular collaborator & soon-to-be-wife Thea von Harbou & stars Rudolf Klein-Rogge in a melodramatic tale concerning stolen jewels, mistaken identity & sexual blackmail. Exquisitely designed & shot, this rarely screened early Lang film is an important milestone highlighting numerous thematic & cultural preoccupations that mark the rest of the director’s career.
Imported 35mm print courtesy of Filmmuseum Berlin.August 27 - 7:00pm
You Only Live Once
Fritz Lang (1937) 86 mins
Lang’s beautifully crafted crime drama of ex-con Henry Fonda trying to go straight but discovering that fate is against him is a blend of tragic romance, road movie, German Expressionism & Depression blues. Fonda & Sylvia Sidney are sympathetic as the star-crossed lovers not allowed to forget the past in this persuasive neo-noir portrait of the social inequities of the ‘30s America. Co-stars Margaret Hamilton & Ward Bond.
Imported 35mm print.August 27 - 8:35pm
Dr. Mabuse, Der Spieler part 1
Fritz Lang (1922) 155 mins
The power-crazed Dr. Mabuse (Rudolf Klein-Rogge), a master of many disguises, dominates the underworld with a reign of terror. Manipulating the economy to his advantage, his omnipotence appears irrefutable. Operating at his cinematic peak, with the technical might of the Ufa film studio at his disposal, Lang created one of his greatest works, brilliantly capturing the post-WWI German Zeitgeist through his portrayal of a decadent culture of occultism, hypnotism, hyper-inflation, hysteria & hedonistic pleasures. Produced by Erich Pommer & co-scripted by Thea von Harbou.
Imported 35mm print.September 3 - 7:00pm
Scarlett Street
Fritz Lang (1945) 103 mins PG
Widely considered one of the classic film noirs, Lang’s masterpiece tells the story of Christopher Cross, a man on the verge of a mid-life crisis who befriends & falls for a younger woman. Played with characteristic aplomb by Edward G. Robinson, Cross is initially made to seem like a genial sap before mutating into a figure of madness. Rarely has a noir victim fallen under the spell of a femme fatale, Joan Bennett as the unapologetically erotic & ruthless Kitty, so willingly or broken free with such shocking violence. A reworking of Renoir’s La Chienne.
Imported 35mm print courtesy of The Library of Congress.September 3 - 9:00pm
Dr. Mabuse, Der Spieler part 2
Fritz Lang (1922) 115 mins
The conclusion of Lang’s 2-part masterwork, charts Dr. Mabuse’s self-destructive descent into madness. Redefining the crime thriller, this opus’ epic length allowed for complex character & plot development, & was a huge commercial success in Germany. Incorporating comedy, a pointed political subtext, satire, sex (& nudity), violence, dazzling special effects, horror & full-throttle action, the film offers something for everyone while creating a mythically omnipresent figure of evil in the form of Dr. Mabuse. With Alfred Abel as Mabuse’s rival.
Imported 35mm print.SUPPORTED BY:
