Der müde Tod

Wonderfully haunting in its images, this early Lang film has recently been reissued on DVD under the title Destiny. A title I have heard about for years, it is a pleasure to see it in a finely restored format that does justice to its beauty. The film is made up of four stories, a framing sequence and three historical vignettes, related by the central theme of a woman trying to defy Death to save her lover. While the plots are simple, the telling is astonishing in vision and execution and each of the four stories has a distinctive, entertaining tone -- the brooding expressionistic framing piece, a tale of Arabian adventure, a Renaissance romance, and a comic Chinese fantasy. I found the Chinese segment especially entertaining and some of the images -- such as the old magician transformed into a cactus -- are incredibly surreal and surprising 80 years after they were filmed. Interesting as the film that made Lang famous and very entertaining in its own right, I would recommend this film to anyone who likes cinema of the imagination.

The films of Weimar Germany are an interesting and exciting period to study. They share a rich cultural heritage, similar themes and revolutionary film styles and techniques. "Destiny" (Der Müde Tod) is the earliest mature work I've seen from Fritz Lang, one of the period's principal filmmakers--much better than the Spiders series. It's somewhat expressionistic, in the loose sense usually applied to these films, which is to say it's thematically dark and, occasionally, photographed and designed intentionally to affect mood and express emotions. An exceptional crew of cinematographers and art directors, as in many of the best films of the period, support the director.

Yet, I think the narrative has its faults; the frame narrative is great, but only the last of the three episodes within was entertaining--for its light and magical treatment. In the film, a girl's young lover dies, and Death offers her three tries to resurrect his life. The episodes are flimsy at times, but some impressive imagery and powerful performances by Lil Dagover and Bernhard Goetzke make up for much of that. Additionally, the exotic Arabian, historical Venetian and Chinese settings for the three inner episodes are well rendered, surely, but it's the haunting graveyard scenes and the meetings with Death, especially the room of candles scenes, that I'll remember. They're not merely exotic; they're otherworldly--the atmospheric, moving and imaginative places I want movies to take me.

Der Mude Tod/Destiny(1921) was the film where Fritz Lang began sharpening his trademarks of emotional and visual motifs. Focuses on themes Fritz Lang obsessed over in film and life. For instance, the conflict between love and death is faced by many protagonists(male or female) in numerous Fritz Lang pics. From Destiny(1921) to the director's final film, 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse(1960), Fritz Lang was occupied in his work by philosophies on death, life, love, notion of the after life, and redemption. The visual brilliance of Lang's later Silent films can be traced to this feature.

Figure of death is a compelling and sympathetic Lang character whose task is not an easy one. The character of death in Destiny(1921) does what is required of him without any subjective bias on the people he has to collect. Bernhard Goetzke puts on screen with his performance the most fascinating portrayal of death in a motion picture. The figure of death in Destiny(1921) is a lonely and sad figure whose wish is to do something else. The title of the film refers to death's inability to move outside of his destiny.

Der Mude Tod/Destiny(1921) was influential to directors of the silent and sound eras. Luis Bunuel was impressed by its amazing visual and sad qualities(thus the film became an influential force in most of Bunuel's work). It wouldn't be surprising that Destiny(1921) also influenced Ingmar Bergman especially with The Seventh Seal(1957). Other filmmakers influenced includes Enzo G.Castellari, Mario Bava, Roger Corman, and Terry Gilliam. The film's influences can be looked at in films as Lisa and the Devil(1972), Masque of the Red Death(1964), Keoma(1976), and Brazil(1985).

Candleroom sequence is a moment of floating beauty and surreal grace. The candleroom is an extraordinary visual set with a great deal of imagination put into it. The Candleroom is symbolic of the place where the Grim reaper watches over to see whose candle(life) will be put out. An excellent effect involves a candle glow dissolving into a baby. The Candleroom sequence has some terrific visual effects that blow away the CGI of today's motion pictures.

Contains a slateful of extraordinary visuals typical of a German Expressionistic film of that time. In films such as Destiny(1921), Fritz Lang used an aura of expressionistic imagery to display different emotions from his main characters. Visual use of the camera reaches its climatic level during the three tales. An example of why silent films where for the most part a great visual experience compared to many sound pictures. Destiny(1921) matches the astonishing imagery of Die Nibelungen(1924), Metropolis(1927), and Dr. Mabuse Der Spieler(1922) with excellent visuals of its own.

Out of Sympathy for a woman whose beloved died, the grim reaper gives her a chance to save one of three lives as exchange of return of beloved. Tale one takes place in Persia with forbidden love affair between Arab woman and Western adventurer. Tragic tale that benefits from director's imaginary use of Persian locations. The female protagonist attempts to save the adventurer to no avail. Least interesting of the three tales and most slow moving.

Second tale involves a love triangle with the city of Venice as the story's backdrop. The woman of this tale is promised to a man of well known prestige who she doesn't love. Her love is to someone who is not popular and the opposite of her finace. Includes an ingenious death plot that is similar to a situation in Marquis De Sade story, ERNESTINE:A SWEDISH TALE. Her plans ends up in a manner that the woman least hoped for.

The Imperial China tale is the third and best of the three tales. Magnificent camera effects gives it a mythical quality that creates a feel for the spectacle. An astonishing effect and maybe the director's most amazing effect in his silent films involves the creation by a magician of an army of toy sized soldiers. Deals with the Emperor of China who wants the magician's female assistent who is loved by the male assistent. Magical feeling of the amazing and bizarre is what makes the third tale something fantastic.

"Love is Stronger than death" is a good title for a potential documentary of the life and film works of Fritz Lang. More than any other line in a Fritz Lang film, "Love is Stronger than death" represents a summary of Fritz Lang's filmography. "Love is Stronger than death" deals with Fritz Lang's ideals about metaphysical love that goes beyond the confines of the mortal world. Destiny(1921) deals with this notion with use of abstract and metaphysical imagery. "Love is Stronger than death" can also be applied to the films of Mario Bava because of his similar fatalistic take on the topic of love.

After watching it for the first time, I consider Destiny(1921) among the director's finest silent films. An act of courage is performed by the heroine thus making her a tragic figure. Acting from the cast shines with moments of expressionistic beauty. Magificently envisioned by a master of expressionistic filmmaking. Destiny(1921) shows Fritz Lang's growth as an artist and his capabilites to become a legendary film director.

Contemporary audiences must have been awed by the spectacle of the three exotic adventure episodes within `Der Mude Tod', but the imagery Fritz Lang employs in the bookends is the most fascinating aspect of the film today. Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton had already occasionally used clever camera tricks, but Fritz Lang's film revels in special effects. Through editing and double exposure, he makes it look even now as though ghosts are disappearing through a garden wall, or that two lovers' souls are exiting their bodies. The most exciting thing about Lang's magic, of course, is that his images act as a foundation for beautiful, poetic ideas. His unusually sympathetic portrayal of Death is just one example of why the outer story resonates so much more than the obvious melodrama in its middle. Lang seems to argue that, while love cannot overcome death, it retains a power which even death would respect and envy.

Rating: 8

In a small village somewhere in time, a stranger lease for ninety-nine years a field annex to the cemetery and surround it with a very high wall without gate. When a young couple of travelers stop in a local tavern for resting, the fiancé vanishes and her fiancée seeks him and meets his spirit entering through the wall. She finds an entrance and finds that the stranger is actually Death, who is tired of bringing suffering to the world. She begs for the life of her beloved fiancé, and Death proposes her to save one of three lives that are in the end. If she succeeds, Death will bring her lover back to live. The lady becomes a woman in Persia, in Venice and in China, and in all situations she fails to save her respective lover. Death gives her one last chance, if she manages to find within one hour a person in the village that could give up living. When the local hospital is burning in fire, the young woman realizes the only way to stay with her lover.

"Der Müde Tod" is another magnificent fantasy of the genius Fritz Lang. Ingmar Berman was certainly influenced and inspired by this stunning film with his masterpiece "Det Sjunde Inseglet" (a.k.a. "The Seventh Seal"). It is amazing how Fritz Lang was able to generate shadows and special effects with the primitive apparatuses in the incipient cinema. Further, the originality of his screenplays is absolutely impressive. "Der Müde Tod" shows wonderful fantasy about the duel between love and death, with a beautiful message in the end, proving that love is stronger than death. My admiration for this master increases after watching each of his movies. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "A Morte Cansada" ("The Tired Death")