Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Ostensibly this is a crime picture, but it is so strange, and dark, and creepy that it feels more like a nightmare. This was Fritz Lang's follow up to his great M (and actually something of a sequel, as one of that film's major characters returns) and maybe it's not quite as good, but it's still pretty amazing. It's about a criminal mastermind, Dr. Mabuse, who is locked up in an insane asylum. He doesn't talk, or even move much really, but all day he constantly scribbles things down on pieces of paper. These turn out to be complex plans for different criminal endeavours, which are being acted out by a mysterious criminal organization... which may actually be psychically controlled by Mabuse himself. And then it gets even weirder.

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