Destiny (Der mude Tod). 1921. Directed by Fritz Lang.

(11/23/00)

The film is dominated by the figure of death. I don't know the actor's name, but he is a towering, commanding presence. It is interesting that in the early part of the film he is very stern, but as we get to know him and understand how reluctantly he carries out his duty he takes on a very sympathetic dimension. I think it would be interesting to compare him with Bengt Ekerot or this film with Fahrmann Maria.

I very much like the presentation of an old-fashioned German (or Flemish) town. I think I like the sets (or the "production design") better than The Golem, but I would have to see it again to be sure. I like the idea of the high wall around Death's residence and the interior of his castle. I think the most powerful moment in the film (for me) is when Lil Dagover sees the spirits of the dead approaching the wall.

The three episodes in which the girl attempts to defeat the inevitability of death seem inspired by Griffith's Intolerance. They come across as action pieces and don't match the seriousness of the first part of the film. They are jarring in this respect and I was particularly disappointed in the first one. I'll admit that they are both colorful and lively.

The second episode, set in Venice during a carnival, has a kind of Hitchcockian twist in that the heroine sets one man up to be killed, but it is her lover who dies instead. The third story, set in ancient China, is the best of the three. The magician A Hi and the lustful emperor are both entertaining characters and it is a lively fantasy full of magic and special effects in the tradition of The Thief of Bagdad. In fact, I wondered if Fairbanks' The Thief of Bagdad may have been inspired to some degree by Destiny.

The film has a sort of coda in which the heroine can still save her lover if she can find someone who is willing to give up the remaining portion of his life. Everyone she asks underatandably turns her down--the old, the decrepit, a woman who complains of nothing left to live for. This brings squeals of laughter from a contemporary audience. Was that how it was originally intended?

At the end the girl learns the lesson of compassion when she sacrifices herself rather than allow Death to take a child from a burning building. In surrendering her life she is reunited with her lover. I don't think that last scene really convinces. I left with the feeling that it was a cliche put there to wrap things up rather than a point to which the film meaningfully built.