The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

Rewatch imminent. I have always liked this movie though.

Anyone who doubts Fritz Lang's stature as a technical innovator on par with Eisenstein or Hitchcock needs to see this, particularly the way he uses sound to suggest eerie shadowy presences off screen. Mabuse is heard but not seen. Then there is the hidden ticking time bomb. Hasn't aged a day.

Way ahead of its time if you ask me, Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse is possibly one of the best German language speaking movies ever made. Abnormal and quite eccentrically formed, it repeatedly and always satisfies my taste and longing hunger for film.

I wasn't too blown away by the first Mabuse film, but this was really impressive. The story is always engaging (with some cool mysteries and a few creepy shots), the villain's motivations are delightfully twisted and some of the scene transitions are amazing. As many have said here, it feels very much ahead of its time.

Superb psychological filmmaking. Preferred it on the second viewing. Fuck 'ahead of its time' - it's ahead of the fucking present.

Absolutely beautiful German expressionist film by one of the masters, Lang

Good thriller with clever construction and some marvelous photographic techniques.

Its commentary on the contemporary situation in Germany, with a singular shadowy figure capitalizing on desperate and unemployed men to further his criminal interests, makes TESTAMENT a film that rewards repeated viewing. Lang's use of expressionist lighting in some scenes undergirds the creepiness and the foreboding.

Very good thriller. I would have liked to have seen more of Rudolph Klein-Rogge's Mabuse, as I thought he really made the first movie and he plays a very limited role in the second. This movie has a better protagonist than the first in Otto Wernicke's Inspector Lohmann. The first scene of the film is great, but I felt like Mabuse seemed like less of an overwhelming threat than in the first movie.

What Hollywood could have been. Although, it's biggest accomplishment is probably the producing of thoughts about the nature of subtitles.

Apart from very few passages in the plot that were weak, this film is a masterpiece. Especially in use of mise-en-scene, that faboulous and slowly moving camera and of course sound. Perfectly structured. Just as the story. Lang was truly great. Also, in spite of the age of this film it's equally as exciting as films of today. Just crafted ten times better.

This shit is crazy!

An odd mix of serious crime and pulp super-villainy. Cinematically Lang pushes the boundaries but in other ways the story is a bit underwhelming.

The only thing that keeps this from being a masterpiece is the sensationalistic, pulp nature of the screenplay--although I have to admit that Lang does his best to change the sensationalism into nightmare. The framing of each shot is so artful, the use of sound to build tension so innovative and expert, that the film compels attention and respect.

There's something amazing going on, you can just feel it watching every scene (both internally and in the context of movie-making). Sets a terribly high precedent for all that follows in this shaky period for film.

That Lang's thriller is this engaging is one hell of a feat considering it was made in the thirties. He simply can't get enough credit for that.

It's 1933 in Germany, and Dr Mabuse no longer needs a physical body to spread fear, paranoia and violence; people are happy to read his manifesto and have their brains eaten. Klein-Rogge is sadly underused, and without him the plot (centered around a far too uncorruptible lawman) meanders a bit, but it's still a very effective thriller about what fear will make humans accept. Good thing he's dead now, eh?

good movie

The nature of the villain in this story is fascinating, but I only wish his motivation was given more complexity than "do crimes because evil." A more morally ambiguous antagonist would have been great, but there are some unforgettable characters otherwise. Also an unnecessary tacked-on romance plot, but that's to be expected of the era.

While not as impressive as the first film in regards to story and visuals, this benefited greatly from the faster pace and the fact that this was a sound film.

Not as stylish as its predecessor, but Lang nails it with a thrilling plot, perfectly paced and staged. An early talkie that feels far from dated.

Not his most stunning visually but this was hype

84.00

It is remarkable that Vigo's ode to rebellion against repression premiered on 7 April 1933, and, two weeks later, Lang's exploration of terror as a means of creating the conditions for an "empire of crime", both then banned in their respective countries for years afterwards. The most interesting aspect of this one is the sense that the spectral character of the forces at play is somehow related to the technologies through which they are conveyed, in particular those of recorded sound and image.

An interesting film considering the time period it exists in - the film was made before Lang fled Nazi Germany and it was thusly banned for its implications of the state. That aside, the film is solid - Mabuse himself is a memorable villain complemented by an interesting mystery that adds plenty of suspense to the narrative. Innovative for its time with its use of sound and writing; however, the film declines in quality the further it progresses. A flawed but fine piece of cinema history.

Lang probably had bottled up some mysterious-suspense-essence in which he developed his films in and probably washed his teeth with. Twice, once in the morning and once before going to bed.

I must say i severely missed kleinrogge as an active, present mabuse and lohmann, while clever and humorous, lacks the intensity of wenk. I couldn't get into it as much as the first, prob bc this is less storytelling and more exploration of evil and the immortality of crime. Lang of course creates a spectacle of sight and sound which is a joy to watch.

Star Rating: ★★★★1/2

Lang was so goddamn good.

Mabuse was pretty much the first great movie supervillian, appearing in films before the term was even coined. Christopher Nolan obviously used this as inspiration and research when developing The Dark Knight, which shows just how original the ideas in this film were 75 years later. It has it's weaknesses, like the romantic subplot, for example, but it's a solid and at times, genuinely scary crime film.

More conventional crime thriller than der Spieler. The running time does this more favors. Needed something special.

A great thriller that successfully walks the line between modern crime suspense & uncanny mystical ideas. While slick and ahead of its time stylistically, it still contains some beautiful expressionist flashes. Despite the specific historical interest, its themes haven't aged at all and you can really feel its influence on a wide range of cinema just as you can feel the aura of Mabuse's diabolical presence all over this film's story and atmosphere.

(2nd viewing, 1st: 85)

84.000

There's a lot of really mindblowing technique in this film, and I would have given it a 90 but it drags a bit in the third act as it spends a little too much time showing off how good Fritz Lang and his crew are at the whole making a movie thing.

Yet again Fritz Lang delivers a undeniable classic! And it's in the usual Lang mentality. Long and extremely detailed. From the criminology to the psychology. And with that demands some patience by the viewer. But that doesn't take away from the excellence of this movie. The scene that gave me goosebumps was where the illusion of Dr. Mabuse was sitting in Prof Baum's office preaching his demented evil. The visuals in that shot was abnormally chilling and really got under my skin! A Masterpiece!

Every scene has a number of innovative cinematic moments--inventive crosscutting, brilliant sound editing, expressive cinematography--and that doesn't even get to the core of the film, which seems to be the prototype for the next 80 years of thrillers. The narrative is an elaborate web of characters and subplots, and it can get to be a bit much, but the fantastic editing helps. Overall it's a technical masterwork and a shining example of a suspense film.

The first half is truly great stuff, especially the opening sequence is masterful. However, in the second half the feeling of mystery and suspense kinda vanishes and the film becomes a much more standard (and a bit dated) crime film. But it's still a very enjoyable film.

Funny to think that even in 1933 directors were relying on car chases and big explosions to draw in the audiences. This is a bit slow in places, but it's peppered throughout with some very memorable scenes. The drive-by assassination, with the overhead shot of all the cars moving away until one remains, was particularly chilling.

watched: 2012, 2022

The journal written by Dr. Mabuse is a sort of haunted cursed text like the tapes of Dr. O'Blivion in Videodrome. Both texts are materially limited- you can see where they begin and end- but they also somehow through their ideas contain the whole soul of the author and simply reading them changes your mind radically in ways that you can't control

Lang takes everything he mastered with the silent film and infuses it into the excellent talkie sequel to Dr. Mabuse, which is even tenser, and terser, than the epic original.

Lang was so far ahead of his time that his films have aged with unbelievable grace. The effects in this movie are beyond just about any other contemporary film, and are still creepy today, and the psychological and supernatural underpinnings give the crime thriller aspects of the story a unique twist.

86.500

Fun sequel to the original that stands well on its own. Lang does some interesting things with sound while weaving a captivating mysterious crime film.

I'm always struck by how far ahead of his time Lang always seemed to be. Cinema in general took over 20 years to catch up with him.

Low-key for Lang, but has some great individual scenes. In the "How ignorant am I?" department, I always thought the name was pronounced to rhyme with ABUSE until I finally saw this picture and was made to realize that it's really pronounced "Mah-BOO-seh." Y'learn sumpin new every day. . .

Fritz Lang's last German film is a superior crime thriller in which Dr. Mabuse, the Keyser Soze of his day, uses modern technology to control a criminal empire. Lang works his obsessions (time, fate, modernity) into the visual framework and the movie feels fresh today.

shows its age in some aspects, but it's brilliant in others. mabuse remains one of the most sinister villains in all of cinema, and this, even more than the first film, deserves the status of a classic german film

klassiker...

Excellent direction as expected from Lang but not much of an ending to what could have been a classic.

Fantastic movie, way ahead of its time. The opening scene is one of the most memorable ever. Still holds up today, even the special effects.

As far as testaments with breadth and reach are concerned, the one penned by Dr. Mabuse rivals those of Mohammad and Jesus Christ. However, nothing is sacrosanct, even less immortal. Brilliant, beautiful and -- most importantly -- bizarre.

Com inegável influência dos livros de Baum sobre o mágico de oz (o herdeiro de Mabuse inclusive tem o nome de Baum e usa a mesma técnica esconde-esconde de Oz) assumindo um caráter crítico da Alemanha nazi da época. Minha nova filhote gata está adorando meu binge de Mabuse, com o Jogador ela ficou encantada com a trilha sonora, aqui no Testamento o foco dela foram os efeitos sonoros de apitos e buzinas. DVD Obras-primas do cinema Trilogia Mabuse-Lang.