May 8 movie: The Testament of Dr. Mabuse. This wasn't quite what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be a crazy scary German expressionist horror movie. Actually it was sort of a creepy German expressionist gangster movie. That's not a criticism; the movie was was really really good. It seems like it must have been about fascism at least to some degree. At first glance the criminals seem like ordinary gangsters, but really they're terrorists led by an absolute dictator trying to destabilize the entire population through fear and establish an "empire of crime." Hmm, sound familiar? I read that it was Fritz Lang's last movie before he fled Nazi Germany, so these issues had to have been on his mind. The movie is complex and I'd like to see it again and think more on this theme.
I love that incredible art style prevalent in Germany in the 20s and early 30s. It pervades this movie, most overtly in the credits and in the titular testament (i.e. notes) of Dr. Mabuse. And also there's one evocative scene with a man in an insane asylum who imagines himself sitting at a desk where everything is made of glass -- glass telephone, glass desk lamp, etc.
There were a few scenes that were exactly what I was expecting. Every time Dr. Mabuse shows up the movie heads into horror territory. That scene where he whispers his philosophy to Dr. Baum, brrr! I think that might give me nightmares. I tried to catch screen shots of a couple of these scenes, but the sheer weirdness didn't translate to a still. The sound and the movement is essential I guess.
Georg said that when he watched this movie, he got to the end and was like, "what the hell?" I got to the end and was like, "okay! this is the movie I thought I was going to be watching!"
So, can anyone recommend a crazy scary German expressionist horror movie? I'm kind of in the mood for one.
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