Fritz Lang invents the escapist super- spy thriller! To seize a set of political documents the evil Haghi dispatches the seductive agents Kitty and Sonya to neutralize a Japanese security man and our own top spy No. Ulmer (reported)Original Music Werner R. Heymann (original) Neil Brand piano score on this disc. Written by Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou from her novel Produced by Erich Pommer. Directed by Fritz Lang. Reviewed by Glenn Erickson. How did Fritz Lang rebound from the biggest Uf. A film of the 1. 92. He made Spies (Spione), a fantastic espionage thriller that favors action and sex over grand themes. Lang had been writing and directing giant two- part epics since 1. Even his Metropolis looks as if it were intended to be a two- parter, and Aitam- Bar Sagi has found that it was shown that way in at least one foreign country. At 1. 50 minutes Spies is just as long as Metropolis, but it moves so fast that an intermission is just not necessary. Viewer adjustments are recommended to get cozy with Lang’s brilliant 1.
When his camera swings into action, the movie convinces us that it’s the original source for every super- spy gimmick and trope we ever saw. It definitely exploits the sex fantasy of seductive agents defeating their espionage targets by sleeping with them. Spies works two slinky Mata Haris into its 2. A mystery mastermind seeks to undermine Germany by securing details of a secret agreement with the government of Japan. Secret service chief Burton Jason (English actor Craighall Sherry) is shocked when his undercover secret agent No. Willy Fritsch) unmasks Jason’s own secretary Vincent (Hans Heinrich con Twardowski of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Hangmen Also Die!) as a double agent. Jason realizes that a huge intelligence network is monitoring their every move, as well as every move of the Japanese security chief Doctor Matsumoto (Romanian actor Lupu Pick). The fiend is Haghi (Rudolf Klein- Rogge of Metropolis), a cripple in a wheelchair who doubles as the chief of a large bank, and has other disguises as well. Haghi uses two seductress- agents skilled at kiss- and- betray missions. The irresistible Kitty (Lien Deyers) disguises herself as a girl abandoned on the street, to insinuate herself into the confidence of Dr. Haghi dispatches the sophisticated Russian temptress Sonya Baranikowa (Gerda Maurus) to buy some secrets from a foreign Army Officer, Colonel Jellusic (Fritz Rasp of Diary of a Lost Girl). But the one thing Haghi doesn’t anticipate is that No. Sonya will fall in love. Haghi must risk everything to secure the Japanese treaty AND make sure that No. If viewers can accept some pacing and emphasis issues, Spies rewards as an exciting action show that connects the thrills of silent serials with later superspy epics. Fritz Lang was an old hand at such material, and every new spy thriller he made was ahead of the curve: Man Hunt, Hangmen Also Die!, Ministry of Fear. Lang loves narrowly defined genre characters. Forget literary allusions or psychological depth — psychology is just another weapon utilized by the villains. Lang reportedly told Jacques Rivette that “there is only pure sensation, character development doesn’t exist.” Here the formula works fine. Thefts, blackmail and murder are Haghi’s specialty. The science fiction trappings of his secret lair hidden within a bank point forward to the arch- villains of James Bond fantasies. The style of comic books (or silent serials) is applied to older espionage plots, with an added dose of sex and violence. No specific political message is conveyed. That a bank is the locus of criminal evil is not stressed, but German citizens of the inflationary . Lang and von Harbou again filter foreign cultures into the story. Japan is exotic and elegant, as witness Matsumoto’s love for the . On the other hand, the apartment of the alluring Sonya is decorated with Russian religious icons, that point to a . She has allied herself to Haghi to avenge the deaths of her Family. The dynamic of their relationship is a lot like the bickering conflict between Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon in Damn Yankees — he respects her talent, and she fears his power. Lang’s visual grammar may have dated, but it functions quite well on its own terms. Instead of fast montages to depict Haghi’s crimes he gives us individual storybook images, distilling the rifling of a safe or the shooting of an auto courier into one or two shots each. A radio tower broadcasts Haghi’s secret commands. When he blackmails the wealthy Lady Leslane (Hertha von Walther) with a photo of her reclining in a negligee in an opium den, a cut from the photo takes us to a seemingly unnecessary matching live- action shot of Leslane in the doss- house. It represents Lady Leslane’s immediate memory of her scandalous sin. Matsumoto finds Kitty soaking wet in a doorway beneath his apartment, her tearful story of mistreatment cuts directly to a father with a whip, and a drunken mother sitting on the edge of a bed. Lang is substituting visuals for dialogue: Kitty must be describing her father’s cruel face and her mother’s sordid surroundings. These narrative insertions seem archaic, yet are still around today. Quentin Tarantino often uses a similar construction as narrative graffiti, interrupting the action of his violent comic- book fantasies for an . They then receive their first order from North Korea in over 10 years. While the spies plan. Lovers In Japan / Reign Of Love Lovers keep on the road you're on Runners until the race is run Soldiers you've got to soldier on Sometimes even the right is wrong They are turning my head out To see what I'm all about. A city in southern France. It is pronounced Are-eh-lah-teh. Arelate Studio derives from the days when I was studying the Merovingians, a Germanic tribe who lived there. For Tarantino it’s self- conscious mocking of the instant backstories that substitute for character depth, the outrageous flashback . There are some clever escapes, etc., but the big action scenes are saved for spectacular set pieces. Lang and Harbou believe in the very modern concept of escalating action climaxes, all interlinked like dominoes. Jeopardy situations overlap and feed into each other. A trip to arrest Colonel Jellusic leads to a fiendish plan to wreck an entire train just to kill one man, and a clerk’s diligence provides the clue that unmasks Haghi and leads to a terrific raid on his headquarters. Imprisoned by Haghi, Sonya is lashed to a chair in a sealed room, under the threat of poison gas and the grenades of Haghi’s henchmen. That action is cross- cut with the bank raid, as Jason’s experts frantically try to locate an entrance into the hidden headquarters. With David Tennant, Janet Montgomery, Marcin Dorocinski, Miroslaw Zbrojewicz. Synopsis: A dramatic thriller set against the backdrop of a series of historic events, “Bridge of Spies” tells the story of James Donovan (Hanks), a Brooklyn lawyer who finds himself thrust into the center of the Cold War. Architecture, high jeopardy and a countdown to Sonya’s execution guarantee an exciting finish. I’d have to say that Lang’s film surely inspired a lot of espionage fiction, perhaps even some by writers like Grahame Greene and Eric Ambler. Audiences of 1. 92. Spies, but Lang’s commitment to realism only goes so far. He and von Harbou still favor moments of overdone expressionist acting, which essentially has actors externalize their inner characters by striking poses. Sonya plays part of a scene with one hand cocked on her hip, which says, “I’m a dangerous, sexual woman!” Haghi has a habit of curling one hand into a claw to externalize his evil. A montage shows the afternoon turning to night. When we cut back to the lovers they’re not in bed, but instead still holding hands. No doubt about it, they’re going steady for sure. For the violent scenes Lang favors blunt physicality. A government agent bursting into Haghi’s headquarters brandishes two pistols in a rigid pose, evoking images from Hong Kong crime cinema, or maybe Looney Tunes’ Yosemite Sam. When Sonya is bound to the chair and awaiting death, she writhes and strains at the ropes like a rabbit caught in a trap. A fight breaks out in the room, and she stretches out her one free foot to prevent a villain from reaching his pistol. About halfway through this scene I realized that the sight of Gerda Maurus arching and contorting is in itself pretty erotic: I should think someone into bondage would find the scene a real distraction. Actresses Gerda Maurus and Lien Deyers appear to have been Fritz Lang discoveries. Lang has a thing for bee- stung lipstick lips and pouting poses. Deyers has a Lolita- like kitten appeal. She actually licks her lips at the prospect of sexually enslaving the Japanese diplomat. Gerda Maurus is a cool looker with a classic profile; she could have been an acceptable Hitchcock blonde. Her perm is a stylish Teutonic helmet that holds together even through floods and explosions. When offered a chair in Haghi’s office, both women instead sprawl attractively across his desk. As she can play both wanton and pious, Ms. Maurus is a not- bad replacement for Lang’s ideal Brigitte Helm, who likely never wanted to see the director again after the months of torture filming Metropolis. Willy Fritsch was an established leading man in glamorous roles, so Lang introduces him in disguise as an unshaven street bum. He’d use both leading actors immediately again in his Woman in the Moon, along with a child actor. Gustl Gstettenbaur. According to the impressive documentary on the disc, Spies was filmed in a big rush. Special set constructions feature in the train wreck and bank raid sequences; I’m not sure if Uf. A routinely constructed new street sets for individual productions. The hidden spy headquarters set, with its central shaft crisscrossed by staircases, is said to have been designed by Edgar G. The orthochromatic film once again makes light eyes seem silvery and lit from within. But it also darkens the actresses’ gums, sometimes making it look as if they have gaps between their teeth. What’s the appeal of Spies? Most every subplot in the story involves sex and death. Matsumoto’s agents are intercepted off- screen by Haghi’s killers, their fates represented only by the evidence of the packages they were carrying, one of which is bloodstained. The three appear to Matsumoto as ghosts complete with weird eye makeup, in a horror- hallucination of guilt that looks forward to the phantom Mabuse . The movie has no fewer than three suicides. One Haghi minion is so in awe of his leader that he’d rather die than cross him. When the bank is raided, several of Haghi’s gunmen follow orders and remain behind as suicide troops. Waiting for the cops to break in, they’re completely relaxed, their guns loose in their hands. Bridge of Spies Movie Review & Film Summary (2. Steven Spielberg's . The man. is shot from behind. We are not really seeing . The truth is in the middle. It is 1. 95. 7, and the Cold War is a constant concern. Donovan is asked to. Abel. And so he actually tries to. Abel, arguing that the seizure of evidence was. Abel. hanged. Donovan argues that Abel not only represents valuable political currency. US ever needs to negotiate with the Russians. Abel should be treated as we would want any American POW to treated. If you think about it, Abel was just doing a job, right? Does that deserve the death penalty? What message would that send. Of course, Donovan is right, and the international picture. Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell). Russians. Despite having no real experience in. Once again, Donovan has difficulty doing the bare minimum. In. the tradition of the typical Spielberg protagonist, Donovan is a man who. From the very first scene, which is executed with minimal sound design and. Spielberg and his technical team work almost like Abel. This. careful approach easily could have been . To say that Spielberg negotiates that tightrope as deftly as. Philippe Petit would be an understatement. You could take any scene from. Even the Donovan home (Amy Ryan. And. yet Spielberg and his team find channels for cinematic vision within that. Look at the color palette distinguishing the United States from. Germany. When Donovan gets to Europe, everything is washed in blue and gray. Yes, he rose to fame by finding something inherent in the average man, but he. Like Henry Fonda, he isn. Why was America the best country. World War II? Because we had men like Jim Donovan. Spielberg and company even give. Donovan a coughing, sneezing cold in the final act, highlighting that this. Hanks is well supported by an equally- great turn from. Rylance. The wonderful actor understands what Abel and Donovan see in. They are both men who refuse to. And they are both men who can see the bigger picture. It is the image, the record, the interpretation that goes in the history. At this point, it would be easy to go on to praise Matt. Charman and Joel & Ethan Coen. Suffice to say, every technical. There are a few moments in the mid- section of. Since Steven Spielberg began making films in the 1.
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