Movie and Television Reviews

Link: http://www.cineaste.com/lang.htm

Fritz Lang, German cinematic genius, made Dr. Mabuse in 1933. The film was banned by German censors, automatically adding to its greatness in many critics' eyes, eventhough the exact reason for its ban isn't known. Govindini Murty suggested during the festival that German censors thought Dr. Mabuse was too close in style to Hitler, but I didn't notice that at all except for one brief scene which could be confused with any example of German exhuberance. The article I've linked to says it was banned because it encouraged Communists, and I feel that's probably closer to the truth for the reason below. Regardless, the reason Govindini Murty chose Dr. Mabuse for the festival wasn't to gratuitously denounce the indefensible but because of the parallels people can draw between the criminal network in the film and modern day terrorism, which itself is also indefensible yet defended by many. The similarities are, in fact, very close and much closer than to the McCarthy era, as one of his unbiased professors proposed to my Magnasquid friend. Dr. Mabuse is in charge of a criminal network whose goal isn't to gain wealth so much as to cause yes, terrorize and destabilize society. Sounds familiar? Well, a lot closer to Communist tactics and modern Islamofascism than to McCarthy, anyways.

A complete analysis would be lengthy indeed, but let me point our that the directing is of genius quality. In one striking scene, total darkness is interrupted by gun flashes, a wonderful effect. The story itself is interesting, but perhaps with too much attention given to elements that don't move the plot along. We get lengthy scenes of his henchmen, for example. . I would have loved to have seen Mabuse plan to foil his would-be captors, but Lang chose for the viewer to never really deal with Dr. Mabuse himself. We mostly interact with him through his henchmen or those he "possesses," with some kind of hypnotism, I assume. It's an unconventional decision, but it comes with negatives. On the other hand, who am I to quibble with genius?