Home > Fritz Lang

Although some consider Lang's work to be simple melodrama, he produced a coherent oeuvre that helped to establish the characteristics of film noir, with its recurring themes of psychological conflict, paranoia, fate and moral ambiguity. His work influenced filmmakers as disparate as Jacques Rivette and William Friedkin. His most famous films are probably Metropolis and MM is a 1931 German film noir directed by Fritz Lang and written by Thea von Harbou in which a serial killer, played by Peter Lorre, preys on children; the police and criminal underground of Berlin both work to stop him. M was the first starring role for P, made before he moved to the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in.

Lang was an artist and a painter who enlisted in the army and fought in World War IWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of. While recovering from both injuries and shell-shock, he joined Germany's UFAThe Universum Film Archiv UFA or Universe Film Archive was the major commercial German film studio in the early part of the 20th century until the end of the second World War. Subsequently its property became part of the GDR (East Germany) and became the studio just as the Expressionist movement was waxing. In this first phase of his career, Lang alternated between art films such as Der Müde Tod and populist thrillers such as Die Spinnen (a two-part film), combining popular genres with Expressionist techniques to create an unprecedented synthesis of popular entertainment with art cinema, culminating in his most famous silent works: Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler ( 1922Events January 7 Dali Eireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64-57 votes. January 10 Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dail Eireann January 11 First successful insulin treatment of diabetes. January 12 British government releases Irish prisoners), a crime epic (running four hours in two parts in its original version, recently restored by the MunichMunich ( German: Munchen ) is the state capital of the German Bundesland of Bavaria. Behind Berlin and Hamburg, Munich is Germany's third largest city with a population of about 1. 261 million ( as of 2003). It is located on the river Isar. History The se Filmmuseum) focusing on the psychological conflict between the master criminal MabuseMabuse is a fictional character, a villain, created by author Norbert Jacques but made most famous by the three films German director Fritz Lang made about him over a period of almost forty years. Though the character was designed to deliberately mimic pu and detective Von Wenk; Die Nibelungen ( 1924Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s Years: 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 See also 1924 in aviation 1924 in film 1924 in literature 1924 in mu), and his most famous film, Metropolis ( 1927).

Legend has it that Metropolis greatly impressed the leaders of the growing Nazi movement, though Lang detested their philosophy and wrote anti-Nazi statements into his 1933 film Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (The Testament of Dr. Mabuse). Mabuse was banned when the Nazis seized power, but Joseph Goebbels still respected Lang enough to offer him the head position of the German film industry. Rather than accept the position, Lang fled Germany. Thea von Harbou, his wife and long-time collaborator, had joined the Nazi party and remained behind.

In 1931, between Metropolis and Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, Lang directed what many film scholars consider to be his masterpiece: M, a disturbing story of a child murderer ( Peter Lorre in his first starring role) who is hunted down and brought to trial by Berlin's criminal underworld. M remains a powerful work; it was remade in 1951 by Joseph Losey, but this version had little impact on audiences, and has become harder to see than the original film.

Upon his arrival in Hollywood, Lang joined the MGM studio and directed the impressive crime drama Fury. Lang made twenty-one features in the next twenty-one years, working in a variety of genres at every major studio in Hollywood, occasionally producing his films as an independent. These films, often compared unfavourably by contemporary critics to Lang's earlier works, have since been reevaluated as the equal of, if not superior to, his German films. During this period, his visual style simplified and his worldview became increasingly pessimistic, culminating in the cold, geometric style of his last American films, While the City Sleeps ( 1956) and Beyond a Reasonable Doubt ( 1957).

Lang epitomized the stereotype of the tyrannical German director; he was known for being hard to work with. He wore a monocle that added to the stereotype (though film historians say this particular cliché began with Erich von Stroheim), and his image has been parodied in a number of media, including GWAR's long form video Phallus in Wonderland.

During the 1950s, Lang found it harder to find congenial production conditions in Hollywood and, following a major disagreement with the producer of Beyond A Reasonable Doubt, he returned to Germany to make his last films. These works received mixed reviews, some condemning them as stylised and detached, while others praised them for the same qualities.

Lang's eyesight steadily deteriorated throughout the 1950s and, after a final Dr. Mabuse film, Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse ( 1960), he returned to the United States. He continued collecting research material and drafting screenplays, but never made another film.

He died in 1976 and was interred in the Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.