Destiny (1921 film)
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Directed by | Fritz Lang |
Produced by | Erich Pommer |
Written by | Thea von Harbou Fritz Lang |
Starring | Lil Dagover Walter Janssen Bernhard Goetzke Rudolf Klein-Rogge Hans Sternberg Erich Pabst Max Adalbert Georg John |
Cinematography | Bruno Mondi Erich Nitzschmann Herrmann Saalfrank Bruno Timm Fritz Arno Wagner |
Distributed by | Decla-Bioscop |
Release dates
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Running time
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105 minutes |
Country | Weimar Republic |
Language | Silent film German intertitles |
Destiny (German: Der müde Tod, "Weary Death"; originally released in the US as Behind the Wall) is a 1921 silent film directed in Germany by Fritz Lang. The film, rich in special effects, is structured as a frame tale with three stories within the story.
Plot
In the Expressionistic frame story, in which human lives are each represented by a candle, Death grants a woman three chances to save her lover, if love can triumph over death. The three stories within the story each occur in a setting that is nominally historic, but really in the realm of fantasy: an adventure tale with a Persian setting out of the Arabian Nights, a Renaissance Venetian romance, and a largely comic story set in China.
Release
In Germany, the film was poorly received at first, with critics complaining that it was not 'German' enough, but the film was much more successful overseas.[1] Douglas Fairbanks purchased the American rights, to delay its general American release while he copied the effects of the Persian segment for his 1924 The Thief of Baghdad. [1]
Legacy
The film was highly influential, most notably in helping persuade Alfred Hitchcock and Luis Buñuel of the promise of the medium.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hardy 1995, p. 29.
Citations
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External links
- Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Destiny at IMDb
- Destiny at AllMovie
- Destiny at Rotten Tomatoes
- Der müde Tod on SilentEra.com.
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- 1921 films
- Articles containing German-language text
- 1920s fantasy films
- Films of the Weimar Republic
- Films directed by Fritz Lang
- German silent films
- German films
- German fantasy films
- Black-and-white films
- German Expressionist films
- Romantic fantasy films
- Babelsberg Studio films
- Personifications of death in fiction
- Screenplays by Fritz Lang
- Screenplays by Thea von Harbou
- 1920s German film stubs
- Fantasy film stubs