Thanks for the memories!

Fantastic!

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

I'm sadly not an expert on director Fritz Lang's life and wondrous film repertoire, but I read somewhere that the original 1922 "Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler" was like a metaphor for everything that went wrong in contemporary Germany, what with its decadence and corruption. Eleven years later, the Nazi party had risen to power, and the notorious (and nefarious) Joseph Goebbels single-handedly decided that the follow- up "The Testament of Dr. Mabuse" should be banned from the public. Ironically enough, the same Joseph Goebbels almost simultaneously offered Fritz Lang to become manager of the German Film Institute. According to the legends, Lang suspected that it was some kind of ambush and fled the country overnight. I don't know if the whole story is true, but it's definitely fascinating! The film itself is truly a must-see for cinema fanatics and historians, although I have to admit it is a very complex and demanding movie to watch. It's a genuine crime thriller, albeit with unmistakable horror aspects. Vile crimes are being committed all over the city and all traces lead back towards the infamous Dr. Mabuse. One minor little problem, however, Dr. Mabuse resides in a hermetically sealed off cell in a mental institution. But like his obsessive fan Dr. Baum proclaims in all his lectures, Mabuse is a true genius that even masters the art of hypnosis. Could it be that he is mind-controlling his minions all of town in order to commit his crimes? Commissioner Lohmann, the same cop who chased presumed child murderer Peter Lorre two years earlier in "M", is in charge of the investigation. Certain sequences in "The Testament of Dr. Mabuse" are incredibly tense and petrifying, like for example when the sinister doctor appears and disappears like a ghost. Other scenes, particularly the crime sequences, are very intelligent and utmost ingenious! For example, I'll probably never forget the scene where the targeted victim of a murder is driving his car and stopping at the red light. His killer, in one of the cars next to him, evokes a series of honking among all the cars in front of the red light and even the targeted victim joyously joins the honking concert. Then, with all the noise of the honking, the killer can inconspicuously pull the trigger of his shotgun and nobody noticed the loud blast. Only when the light switches back to green and all the other cars are long gone, a policeman discovers the lifeless body behind the wheel. Rudolf Klein-Rogge doesn't have a whole lot to do, in fact, but performance as the titular Dr. Mabuse still stands as one of the most legendary villainous characters of all time. The film is a technical and visual masterpiece that still also carries a lot of trademarks and atmospheric characteristics of the silent era with it. Truly unique cinematic heritage

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

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse opens up with a long tracking shot of a room, where we later learn is the hideout for a group of criminals. We see a man later identified as former cop who appears to be spying. The incredible cinematography is just one thing that makes Fritz Lang's The Testament of Dr. Mabuse Such an incredible and powerful movie. This was a sequel to one of Lang's earlier pictures called Dr. Mabuse the Gambler. I haven't seen that one (yet) but this one very much impressed me. The story is a new crime wave in Berlin, Germany is erupting and the answers seem to be that Dr. Mabuse (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) a criminal incarcerated in a mental institution is sending telepathic messages to his henchmen on the outside to commit crimes. Again to understand this I would have to watch Dr. Mabuse the Gambler. The plot revolves around all these different characters that have a big role in the story. What I mean by this is one minute we see Mabuse in his cell, then we see Inspector Karl Lohmann (Otto Wernicke) putting the pieces together and investigating, and then we see Mabuse's henchmen. Instead of giving us one main character, it gives us several so we see the different perspective's of all these different characters and how the events of the plot seem to effect them all in different ways. This keeps the story going and it never drags on. I say go see it because it's definitely worth your time.

A new crime wave grips the city and all clues seem to lead to the nefarious Dr. Mabuse, even though he has been imprisoned in a mental asylum for nearly a decade.Interestingly, the film is a sequel to both "Mabuse the Gambler" and "M". The "M" connection may only be implied, but there are enough references to think they must exist in the same world. (And some stylistic choices draw a line, too, such as both Lohmann and M's killer identified by their whistling.) The film marked the end of Lang's collaboration with his wife, Thea von Harbou (and the end of their marriage). This was his second film with producer Seymour Nebenzal (the first was "M"). Nebenzal is not as well known as the directors he financed, but maybe he should be: Lang, Pabst, Sirk and more...The Criterion disc is loaded with special features, not least of which is commentary from film historian David Kalat. Strongly recommended for anyone who has a love of film. I do not think they have transferred it to Blu-Ray yet, but I find it hard to believe they could improve on what they have already done...