Fritz Lang (2016) User Reviews

Strange biopic

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 18 January 2017]

Spiked with actual footage from Fritz Langs "M". For a German movie this is pretty neatly done and you have quite a few crazy ideas thrown in there. I haven't read anything about Langs personal life but the movie tries to rebuild things that may have happened around the time he did "M". I don't know how close to the truth (actual events) this stays, but you could imagine things happening like they are depicted.

Of course "reality" and fiction do collide or at merge together and the movie is also shot in black and white. A mixture of making of and biopic this is not afraid to show nudity, sexual situations (and violence) and craziness overall. Tough to kind of like anyone, but that is not what the movie is aiming for

Lang deserves much better than this

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 29 March 2017]

"Fritz Lang" is a German movie from 2016 that runs for 105 minutes approximately and the title already tells you what this film written and directed by Gordian Maugg is about: Fritz Lang, the man that is still considered by many the best German filmmaker of all time and looking at big names like Herzog, Fassbinder, Wenders or many others, this is quite a decent statement. And you can certainly make a point for him, even if he is probably not my personal choice. But not Lang is in the focus today, but Heino Ferch's Lang and this movie of course. First of all, this is a black-and-white film. It is a creative decision to some extent too, but honestly, it is much more of a practical to show us when this film is set, namely around the year 1930, even before Hitler was in power. The (lack of) color is one positive aspect here. Another positive aspect is the idea to focus on a specific time in Lang's career, which means this is not a biopic at all as the other reviewer stated incorrectly. The Nazi years, Lang's later career years, his silent film career, all of this is only vaguely referenced in here, if at all. The focus here is on Lang making the movie "M", probably his second most famous today after "Metropolis" and how he tried to get as close as possible to an actual serial killed (Kürten) that inspired him for Peter Lorre's character and helped him as well in making a successful transition from silent film to sound film.

But apart from what I just mentioned the negative is much more frequent than the positive. No offense to Heino Ferch, but the fact that he is not the strongest actor is often tried to conceal with the help of something I would call alpha male scenes. This means there is a lot of sex in here, some gun shots as well, graphic scenes with murder too. This is of course somewhat accurate because after all this film is about a serial killer, but it all felt too much in the face I think and just for the sake of it. Subtlety is something this film really really would have needed as I felt the initial premise here was decent and this could have been a really good film with better execution. Maybe another lead actor would have been good too. I personally like Thomas Thieme and I think he is a talented actor and a personal favorite, so I cannot say anything about him and I also think Samuel Finzi was okay as the serial killer, but the film loses itself at times because it looks as if Ferch's character is some kind of police inspector with his constant premise and his connection to film (actually the very core of it all) feels a bit lost at times. I hope that the production of this film will not result in the possibility of another Lang movie not coming out for a long time, so maybe it is a good thing that the focus in here is so specific on such a little period of time, so maybe we get a real biopic some time soon. Fritz Lang definitely deserves it and his life was certainly interestingly enough to tell a convincing and dramatic story. But back to this one here. Like I described earlier, it is not a failure, but the bad outweighs the good and I don#t recommend checking it out. Quite a pity.

A Fantasy Biopic

[gavin6942 · 28 July 2017]

Filmmaker Fritz Lang (Heino Ferch) seeks inspiration for his first sound film, "M", by immersing himself in the case of serial killer Peter Kürten.

While there is no denying that Lang is one of the all-time great directors, it may not be said that he is one of the greatest human beings. This film offers a not so flattering portrayal of Lang – as a sexual deviant, spiteful, and so on, but it may be quite possibly accurate. Lang even almost identifies with the killer, at least on some level. Any good person can find sympathy or pity for even the worst of people, but Lang's feelings are different.

A good deal of artistic freedom is taken up, of course. There is no reason to believe that Lang had access to the victims of Kurten, or had extended conversations with him in jail. This makes for a good narrative, but is almost wholly invented. The portrayal of Lang as a questionable person, however, is quite true and the filmmakers should be given credit for not polishing him. Karl Freund, possibly the greatest cinematographer in history, broke off his friendship with Lang after it appeared that Lang had murdered his wife. Freund was one of the first on the scene and would know. Lang was never charged.

Heino Ferch is absolutely excellent in portraying Lang, and gives off just the right "vibe" that screams "misunderstood genius". If he looks familiar to English-speaking audiences, it may be from his roles in either "Run Lola Run" or "Downfall". Few German actors have an international following, but Ferch is the sort of actor who deserves one. (Seriously, try to think of a German actor. You might think of Christoph Waltz, but he is technically Austrian.)

The film is interspersed with Lang film clips, most noticeably from "M", and they blend in surprisingly well. Though they should be familiar to anyone who knows Lang's work, if you are less than familiar you may even believe that these were shot special to the film. And that is actually a great achievement.

Plotwise, it was a brilliant choice for a time in Lang's life, as it allows for a juicier story with child serial murder all around; the script gives Kurten a revenge motive rather than the traditional "lustmorder" motive, but this does tend to make him deeper and more interesting. Really, there are numerous incidents in Lang's life that could have worked for a film (as mentioned above, the murder of his wife is one). But as far as a behind-the-scenes making-of, there is no better choice than "M", possibly his masterpiece (though others would argue for "Metropolis").

"Fritz Lang" is screening at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 28, 2017. It is the perfect film for those who love the history of film. And even if not, it just so happen to be a very interesting story.

black and white and black

[dromasca · 8/10 · 29 July 2018]

Cinema about cinema and its more and less famous heroes is one of the most popular themes, and the results are very mixed, from superb classics to dull failures that do not succeed to get close to the sparkling and shining personalities in the history of cinema that they deal with. To take just one example, Alfred Hitchcock was recently the hero of at least two movies that centered on his personality and the making of some of his famous films. One was good, the other average, but our image about the master of thriller was enriched by seeing these films. In the history of the German cinema (but not only) Fritz Lang is a huge personality. Director Gordian Maugg succeeded to make an interesting film about him, not a perfect one, but with many ideas and a combination of techniques that makes it worth watching and discussing. Most of his films are about the pre-Nazi and Nazi period in the history of Germany and he seems to be one of the film directors who approach directly and with no nostalgia those times.

Despite its 'generic' title 'Fritz Lang' deals with a specific episode in the life and career of the famous film maker. Same as the hero in Michel Hazanavicius's 'The Artist', Fritz Lang, a film director who had built his name and fame in the mute film industry, was faced around 1930 with the disruptive emergence of sound in cinema. His preparation for the first spoken film which will be named 'M' included taking inspiration from a real serial killer crime case. In the process his research turned into obsession and his way of life became influenced by the dark subjects that he was investigating. Gordian Maugg's approach to Lang's personality is not very sympathetic, to the point that it makes the viewer suspect at some point of the story that Lang himself may have been involved in the crimes.

The other very interesting aspect of 'Fritz Lang' (the movie) is the smart editing which combines scenes with actors, newsreels of the period, and scenes from 'M'. Fiction from the film and about the life of the film director merge together with documented history in flawless manner. Black and white filming also works perfectly. I liked the acting performances of Heino Ferch as Lang and Samuel Finzi as the serial killer, they match the atmosphere of the period and the style of Lang's movie. For most of the duration of the story the first chases the second and helps in his catching. When they get together in a dialog taking place in jail (a dialog which probably never happened in reality), they find a troubling number of similarities in their destinies. In a different twist of destiny the great director could have been a criminal. Or maybe he was one? This question remains open.

A Near Masterpiece About a Masterpiece

[alisonc-1 · 10/10 · 28 July 2017]

Many people, myself among them, consider Fritz Lang's 1931 film "M" to be his masterpiece; this 2016 film imagines how Lang himself came up with that movie. Mixing real newsreel footage, scenes from the 1931 film and present-day actors re-enacting scenes from Lang's life, this could have been a mess. Instead, it is an absolutely glorious picture about a man who, if Heino Ferch's portrayal of him is accurate, was deeply unpleasant and arrogant - but a genius, nonetheless. I would assume that flashbacks concerning Lang's WWI service, his first marriage and other part of his personal life are based on his real life; I know that Lang, along with much of Germany, Europe and the world, became obsessed with the search for the real Beast of Dusseldorf, as the killer (played both icily and self-pitying here by Samuel Finzi) was known. I would recommend a revisit with the film "M" followed by this film as perhaps the perfect double feature as far as great filmmaking goes. Stunning.