Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (1922)
Directed by Fritz Lang

Film Review

The film that established Fritz Lang as the greatest German director of his time is this monumental thriller based on a popular crime novel by Norbert Jacques.  Although it is an amazing thriller in its own right - in fact, one of the best in the history of cinema - it is far more than that. Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler is also an important piece of social commentary, a work that reflects the state of mind of a country that is teetering on the edge of anarchy and self-destruction.  If you ever wondered how a country could slide into fascism and dare to take on the entire world, driven by an obsession for order and racial purity, this film will give you some of the answers.

The genius of Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler is that it can be enjoyed both as a conventional thriller - it is well paced, filled with tension, human interest and some spectacular set pieces - and as a historical document.  It depicts a world where crime genuinely is rampant and the authorities are powerless to prevent its hydra-like growth.  This is Germany of the early 1920s, a time and a place where the criminally minded and unscrupulous could get rich very easily whilst millions faced unemployment and even starvation.  The spectre of World War I would hang over the country for a decade, sapping the life from a weakened government, and allowing all manner of evil to fester in the shadows.

With the old symbols of authority discredited, with former long-cherished values discarded in disgust, the Germany nation was crying out for a new breed of strong men to take control and bring order to prevent the inexorable drift towards anarchy.  The emergence of a figure like Mabuse was inevitable - a strong leader with the will to put himself above all other men and take control of their destinies, unavoidably for the worse.  This idea of the Übermensch or Superman was a vision which the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche explored in his 1883 book "Thus Spoke Zarathustra".  The idea would become a horrible reality when the Nazis appeared on the scene and took control of the country in the early 1930s, and with chilling ease.  Whilst Lang intended Mabuse to be a metaphor for the self-styled gods who would inevitably profit from Germany's woes, it is hard to watch this film now without equating Mabuse with Hitler.

Like many artists of his day, Fritz Lang was influenced by the vogue for expressionism, which, in simple terms, is a style that attempts to convey disturbed mind states through a distorted depiction of reality.  In cinema, this expressionism was usually achieved through obliquely angled shots, sets with false perspectives, high-contrast photography with harsh lighting to emphasise shadows.  The approach would be refined over the years, inspiring directors in other countries including America, becoming an essential element of film noir.

Lang's use of expressionism is particularly interesting because of its subtlety.  Compare this film with contemporary works such as Robert Wiene's Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari (1920) and F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922), where the expressionist style is more than just a metaphor, it becomes the essence of the film.  Lang is less preoccupied with style and more concerned with depicting a realistic portrayal of his time and his country.  Overt expressionism only enters the frame where the plot requires it - such as Told's haunting dream sequence or Mabuse's terrifying descent into insanity at the end of the film.    Otherwise, Lang uses the expressionistic style sparingly, to suggest menace, to underscore the power of Mabuse's evil, without detracting from the realism of the drama and its setting.  As in Lang's subsequent masterpieces, Metropolis (1927) and M (1931), the expressionism of Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler is so effective because we are not always conscious of its presence.

The character of the shape-changing Mabuse was partly inspired by the arch-criminal Fantômas, which was brought to life in a popular series of films by the French director Louis Feuillade.  Indeed, there are many similarities between Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler and Feuillade's thrillers, Fantômas (1913) and Les Vampires (1915).  Lang uses a similar episodic structure and the narrative is driven by the thrilling contest between an obvious villain (Fantômas / Mabuse) and an obvious hero (Juve / Von Wenck).   The public appetite for such films would ensure that Lang's film would be a success, which it invariably was.

The popularity of Mabuse ensured he would reappear in many cinematic guises, first in the Lang-directed sequels Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1933) and Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse (1960), and then in a series of more conventional thrillers in the 1960s.   Mabuse is the archetypal film villain, a creature of great intellect and limitless capacity for evil, with absolutely no soul and humanity, yet still horrifying real.  Nowhere is he better portrayed than in this original film by Rudolf Klein-Rogge, better known as the megalomaniac Rotwang in Lang's later film Metropolis (1927).

Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler is probably Fritz Lang's greatest film, mainly on account of its artistic brilliance, but also because it manages to say a great deal of the time in which it was made.  With its familiar thriller trappings - which include a spectacular night-time car chase and a climactic urban shoot out - it is also one of Lang's most exciting and accessible films.  Beyond any doubt, this is one of the greatest works of the silent era, and a must-see film for any fan of the thriller genre.   Its recent restoration - which retains the film's original two-part structure (The Great Gambler / Inferno) - will allow another generation to appreciate the work of one of cinema's greatest visionaries.

Film Synopsis

Who is the stranger who contrives a stock exchange crash to his own advantage?  Who is behind a major counterfeiting operation?   Who controls the criminal gangs that are sowing mayhem and terror throughout the city?  And who takes such delight in despoiling the rich in their secret gambling dens?  This is what State Prosecutor Von Wenck intends to discover - the identity of the criminal mastermind who has somehow taken control of the country's criminal fraternity and is intent on crime for its own sake.  His first lead is the death of the wealthy young heir Edgar Hull, who managed to lose a fortune in a game of cards.  The dancer Cara Carozza is implicated in the killing and arrested.  But she remains true to her employer and refuses to disclose his identity.  Von Wenck's next lead is more hopeful.  The Countess Told proves to be a useful ally when her husband falls under the power and is destroyed by the unknown crime chief.  Wenck's investigation leads him to a respectable psychoanalyst, Dr Mabuse.  Could this charming mind specialist have anything to do with the wave of crime that is causing so much distress?  Indeed so, and Dr Mabuse is a far more dangerous opponent than Wenck could ever imagine.  He has learned how to control people's minds…