Destiny

2007-01-30 00:04:12

Destiny (1921, Ger., Fritz Lang)

Exhibited through the diffused fuzzy lovely lovey dovey filter, we are introduced to a love story triangle and death is a main character. Seemingly always a master crafting piece after piece, Lang is superbly adept at utilizing the best choices in creating his films, whether it is through the latest technological effects or his own mis-en-scene, the magician works his magic. Lang takes on a story that is bathed in German romanticism, and did I mentioned the diffused light? In a small town in the middle of nowhere, Death hitches a crossroads ride with the local horse carriage. He joins with a young couple with whom he will become the third piece to their love triangle. All in all, Death has come for the boyfriend and the girlfriend wants him back. Death tells her no hard feelings, but his time had come, but the feelings aside I’ll give you 3 chances to save him. And off she goes.
Destiny is a showcase in creativity straining the limits of this medium in 1920. Fantastic visuals, stop action animation all serve to greater effect in telling this story than one can imagine a computer doing. Lang himself, frame for frame, shot the stop action sequence of a scroll unraveling and bowing before an old wiseman who has to read the scroll as two onlookers watch. It is a magical sequence that is fantastical and eerie. Can a computer simulate the slight herky-jerky motion of stop action?
We see magic carpet rides, ghosts walking into and beyond walls and of course the scene where the young lover first meets death as she walks up an endless illuminated staircase that sprouted from a chink in the wall. The eeriness of the fog and the diffusion set the tone for the film and serve to keep us entranced in this distant love story. We are viewers of a love story in fog. It ain’t your normal shiny in daylight simple love story between two lovers.
Finally, this is supposedly and according to the man himself, the film tat sparked the interest of Luis Bunuel in the world of cinema. It is a silent film that has great creativity and accessibility. There are the trademark dramatic acting sequences of silent film but the story is so well filmed, that although that was the way acting was, it almost seems to serve as an intergral piece of the storytelling and also tongue in cheek. Although Death can be widely regarded as no laughing matter, it was always a Lang Shakesperean characteristic to intersperse humorous moments somewhere in his often bleek landscapes or right around pivotal dramatic moments. Great film! Great silent film! Great Fritz!

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