It's funny, this is the third-time I have written a review of this film, and I have no-intention of giving-up yet! After reading a few of the BFI's texts (in-particular, "If...."), there was nothing in my text that violated any of the guidelines of IMDb! Without focusing on IMDb too-much, I have to admit the other time was Amazon.com, which should be of no surprise to anyone. So, I'll sum-it-up: if you have ever wondered if there is something wrong with modern-civilization--you are correct, and Fritz Lang's "Testament of Dr. Mabuse" will confirm many of these deep-seated fears on the abuse of power, and the deceptions inherent in all-forms of media. Some historical and thematic background illuminates the "Mabuse" mythos more clearly...
Postmoderist writers like Bataille have pointed-out that we are constantly-assailed by "constructs" or phantoms: is the Osama Bin-Laden we "know" anything close to the real one? Our so-called "leaders"? Of course not. Is a "marketplace" economy, or "globalization" exactly what they are presented as? Was the Gulf War what we were presented-with? Of course not, and so-on. Lang was certainly ahead-of-his-time in making all of the Mabuse films, pointing-out the problems we are all faced-with in our present-modernity.
Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou, and Norbert Jacques had many models from their own era: numerous war-profiteers, Sidney Reilly, the super-spy, as well as the international arms-trafficker, Basil Zaharoff ("the Greek,"one of Reilly's main-mentors), not the simple-analogy of rising National Socialism. And yet, one can find some implied Platonic-thought in these themes of a "false-reality," since when is Mabuse ever "Mabuse"--the very-thing itself, or a fake? Lang's films are like artichokes and onions--there's always a new-layer one never suspected.
In "Testament of Dr. Mabuse," we are assaulted with the same themes. Mabuse may reside in a Sanitarium, but his ideas are free-floating, alive. Whether he--or the true-terrorists--are alive-or-dead is immaterial, both literally and figuratively. Their ideas infect those who are already ripe for control, such as the Director of the Sanitarium he resides in! He and Mabuse are the same, sowers of the chaos-within. In the end...there is no end to the will-to-power, something off-putting to some who are used-to the "good" winning. In Lang's films, everyone is deeply-flawed, just like real-life.
A must-see, try the Criterion edition which is nearly flawless!! More than just a thriller. Lang's approach is pure-noir before it was even a film-term. His use of composition has been copied again-and-again, because it is so effective in this film;power-relationships abound in each tableau. Some have called this one of the last German Expressionist films, but it really only has elements in a certain scene you will spot immediately. Also: the film is finally available in the original aspect-ratio of 1:19-1, with a pristine-transfer from the negatives and the best extant-materials. This is the real video revolution! Directors need to draw on Lang's legacy more, as we might have better films to watch.
Postmoderist writers like Bataille have pointed-out that we are constantly-assailed by "constructs" or phantoms: is the Osama Bin-Laden we "know" anything close to the real one? Our so-called "leaders"? Of course not. Is a "marketplace" economy, or "globalization" exactly what they are presented as? Was the Gulf War what we were presented-with? Of course not, and so-on. Lang was certainly ahead-of-his-time in making all of the Mabuse films, pointing-out the problems we are all faced-with in our present-modernity.
Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou, and Norbert Jacques had many models from their own era: numerous war-profiteers, Sidney Reilly, the super-spy, as well as the international arms-trafficker, Basil Zaharoff ("the Greek,"one of Reilly's main-mentors), not the simple-analogy of rising National Socialism. And yet, one can find some implied Platonic-thought in these themes of a "false-reality," since when is Mabuse ever "Mabuse"--the very-thing itself, or a fake? Lang's films are like artichokes and onions--there's always a new-layer one never suspected.
In "Testament of Dr. Mabuse," we are assaulted with the same themes. Mabuse may reside in a Sanitarium, but his ideas are free-floating, alive. Whether he--or the true-terrorists--are alive-or-dead is immaterial, both literally and figuratively. Their ideas infect those who are already ripe for control, such as the Director of the Sanitarium he resides in! He and Mabuse are the same, sowers of the chaos-within. In the end...there is no end to the will-to-power, something off-putting to some who are used-to the "good" winning. In Lang's films, everyone is deeply-flawed, just like real-life.
A must-see, try the Criterion edition which is nearly flawless!! More than just a thriller. Lang's approach is pure-noir before it was even a film-term. His use of composition has been copied again-and-again, because it is so effective in this film;power-relationships abound in each tableau. Some have called this one of the last German Expressionist films, but it really only has elements in a certain scene you will spot immediately. Also: the film is finally available in the original aspect-ratio of 1:19-1, with a pristine-transfer from the negatives and the best extant-materials. This is the real video revolution! Directors need to draw on Lang's legacy more, as we might have better films to watch.