What's your favorite Fritz Lang movie and why? My favorite is M, since it really set the stage for suspense movies in later years. Anyone else?
Nick
My favorite is M as well, but I've only seen that and Metropolis. I really want to see his Ring cycle, since that just got released on DVD.
I love Metropolis too... and I must admit that these are my only two Fritz Lang movies as well... I really should see more. Are there others besides these three on DVD?
Nick
fritz who?
just kidding.
I've only seen M. There were one or two scenes in it that I really liked, but I found it too dated for my tastes.
Quote from: GhostboyMy favorite is M as well, but I've only seen that and Metropolis.
ditto.
Fritz Lang? I hate it when people name drop.
I've only seen M and Metropolis, but I liked M better, considering I saw the crappy Moroder version of Metropolis with the cheesy 80s music.
Quote from: Royal TenenbaumFritz Lang? I hate it when people name drop.
My best friend Brad Pitt doesn't like that either.
Wow. I've actually seen two other Fritz Lang movies. "The Woman in the Window" and "Scarlet Street" with Edward G. Robinson. Two slick film noirs. But I prefer "M". Perhaps I'll prefer "Metropolis" once I see the Kino DVD over the VHS I have.
Quote from: Cinephile"The Woman in the Window"
That is a damn great film noir. The perfect femme fatale played by Joan Bennett, and Edward G. beautifully plays against type.
01. Scarlet Street A++
02. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse A++
03. M B+
04. The House by the River B
Quote from: CinephileWow. I've actually seen two other Fritz Lang movies. "The Woman in the Window" and "Scarlet Street" with Edward G. Robinson. Two slick film noirs. But I prefer "M". Perhaps I'll prefer "Metropolis" once I see the Kino DVD over the VHS I have.
ive seen three. M, Metropolis, and Scarlet Street. My favorite, honestly, would have to be Scarlet Street.
Nobody mentioned THE BIG HEAT!
I just saw it last night, and damn damn damn is it good! It's practically the template for every cop (revenge) drama to come since. And none of them have been better.
The more I see her, the more I realize what a talent Gloria Grahame was. And Lang's framing and camera moves are nice and aggressive and exciting.
But best of all is a young Lee Marvin at his most vicious. There's one scene, man, I've always wanted to put one like it in a movie, I just never realized how fucked up and sick it actually plays out to be.
Really, I stress to all who haven't seen it, it's a slick, short, fun cop movie. Check it out.
i've only seen "M" "Scarlet Street" and "The Woman in the Window" and out of those, though they are all quite good, my favorite is "Scarlet Street"
I just saw Metropolis and I absolutely loved everything about it...except the music.
That Goddamned Loverboy and Pat Benetar... what was the music like that they had to change it?
It's not so much that the music was bad (and oh, it was) but it's the fact that 90% of the time, the song had no correlation to the scene.
Like when chases Rotwang chases Maria, the music seems almost happy. A lot of scenes just had too much of it's own individual feel, and it was only there because it was a silent film, where usually the music should carry it a little better.
But my god, the Robot-Maria... I don't know why, but her exaggerated movements were awesome.
watch the KINO release. its the most complete version available and probably a totally different experience. i cant believe you watched the ridiculous 80s scored version. actually, i want to see it now just to see how awful it is.... :)
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Quote from: themodernage02i cant believe you watched the ridiculous 80s scored version.
Neither can I.
I rented it from my library, which most VHS's come in empty cases with a label, so I watched it and it said how it had "Contemporary" additions of music, and oh man...
Why, God, why?
I'm posting in an old thread because I finally watched my Criterion DVD of M tonight, and it was just fucking brilliant.
Like many here, the only other Lang I know is Metropolis, which I like mainly for the look of it, but M worked for me on every level.
And yes, I've seen the Kino restoration of Metropolis, but I saw the Moroder abortion back in the 80s, when it was the most restored version available. (I only watched it once with the music and later would turn the audio off.) Anyway- this transfer of M looks and sounds wonderful (I saw it in a class in college, also in the 80s, and the quality of that print sucked.)
Some favorite moments: the child's balloon bouncing across the power lines; the image of the little girl on the sidewalk, as seen by Lorre, in the center of a mirror ringed with knives; the scene where "Franz" tells the homicide detective that the criminals had captured the "Kindmörder" (child murderer), and the detective almost swallows his cigar; and of course, Lorre's melt-down at the mock-trial in the old basement of the abandoned brewery, which gave me chills.
I also loved how Lang kept a few stretches of the film silent, even in scenes that should have had a lot of noise- police raiding a bar, or the beggars chasing Peter Lorre. I almost always jumped out of my skin when the next sound finally broke the silence.
The extras on the DVD were a little lame, IMO, except for the "Physical History of M," a documentary about the restoration process, about why the film has such an odd aspect ration (1.19 x 1), and a creepy scene showing how Lorre's "confession to murder" scene was later stolen for a Nazi propaganda film called "The Eternal Jew."
Anyway, if you only know Lang from Metropolis, check this puppy out. This one makes me want to see MORE of his films, and I've seen a few titles mentioned in this thread that will have to go on the "to-see" list.
2LB
Long-lost scenes from Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis' found
A near complete version of German-Austrian director Fritz Lang's masterpiece "Metropolis" has been found in Argentina after a quarter of the film was believed lost for 80 years, a German film foundation said Thursday.
The Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau Foundation in Wiesbaden told AFP reels containing all but one scene of the original of the classic German silent film have been discovered by the curator of the Cinema Museum in Buenos Aires.
"Almost everything that had been missing had been found, including two key scenes," said Anke Wilkening, who is in charge of film restoration at the foundation.
Lang presented his science fiction epic in Berlin in January 1927 and it was screened in the original version here only for a few months, proving a flop with critics and audiences alike.
Afterwards, the US distributor Paramount simplified the labyrinthine plot and cut the film by nearly half an hour. The edited scenes were believed lost forever.
Foundation said in fact a copy, missing only a scene where a monk predicts that the inhabitants of Metropolis are heading for apocalypse, had been bought by the head of the Argentinian film distribution company, Terra Film.
It was taken to Buenos Aires to be screened in 1928.
The copy survived and was unearthed by Paula Felix-Didier, the curator of the Buenos Aires film museum, who has now brought it back to Germany.
"Even if the quality is poor, the Argentinian material means that the decades-old dream of putting together a full version of 'Metropolis' has come true," the foundation said.
"Metropolis" is set in a futuristic, divided city of the same name, where the elite live in luxury and workers slave underground.
A bitter conflict erupts after the son of the city's ruler falls in love with a worker striving to unite the two classes.
Battle scenes and chunks of subplot that ended on the US editor's floor can now be seen in the rediscovered version, which is about 25 minutes longer than the one known to film buffs.
According to Die Zeit newspaper, the version found in Argentina had been bought by a film critic shortly after it was screened there. He kept it for decades and only sold the reels in the 1960s.
The weekly said German film historians had used still pictures and bits of footage obtained from private collectors to try to recreate the original, but with limited success.
"We can now complete the task," the foundation said.
Quote from: MacGuffin on July 03, 2008, 10:56:14 AM
Long-lost scenes from Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis' found
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents
All right... we've got one last post for you today, because this just couldn't wait until Monday. We've just heard back from our friends over at Kino International.
The good news is that they have officially confirmed that the newly-discovered footage from Fritz Lang's original version of Metropolis (which we mentioned yesterday) WILL be a part of the forthcoming special edition Blu-ray Disc release in 2009. What's more, the new special edition will be released on standard DVD format as well on the same day. Watch for more details on this sure-to-be-amazing release in the weeks and months ahead. We think that's just about the best news we could close out the week with, don't you?
Images from Newly Recovered Metropolis Footage (http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37332)