Testament Of Dr. Mabuse

Made during the final chaotic months of the Weimar Republic by master director Fritz Lang ("Metropolis", "M") the movie was banned when the Nazis came to power in early 1933; it was to be Lang's last work before leaving Germany. He directed a string of films in Hollywood and though some of them were quite good he never managed to reach the heights of filmmaking he had done during his German period, mainly because the American studio system didn't give him the artistic freedom he had previously enjoyed.

The plot revolves around the mysterious Dr. Mabuse, a criminal mastermind invented by the German author Norbert Jacques and made famous by Lang's 1922 silent film "Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler". A decade later we find the notorious doctor locked away in an asylum. He hasn't spoken a word for ten years, instead he is writing his "testament", a detailed manual describing how to commit the most hideous crimes, crimes that serve no other purpose than to throw a law-abiding society into total chaos and anarchy. When the document starts to take concrete form in reality, Lohmann has to put the clues together in a most unusual and horrifying case...

Now Criterion Collection has released this classic in an excellent two-disc edition. The film is presented - for the first time - in it's original length and aspect ratio with restored image and sound. Picture quality is very good; I've only seen two DVD-releases of movies from this period with a better image ("42nd Street" and "The Ghoul"). The picture is sharp and clear, almost without any specks or grain. Sound quality is worse, unfortunately. While spoken lines are clear enough the sound-track suffers from background noice, which in a few scenes (not any of the important ones, thank God) is very disturbing. I don't consider this a major problem though; the film is too captivating for that. The language is German with optional English subtitles (easy to read).
On the first disc - together with the film - is an insightful audio commentary by film historian David Kalat. Some might find it a bit academic, but he provides interesting information about - among other things - Lang's storytelling techniques (parallels can be found today in movies like "Pulp Fiction" and "The Usual Suspects") and points out that the film's theme - once a metaphor for the Nazi movement rising in power - can just as easily be applied to the current international political situation, regarding terrorism. The second disc contains the complete French-language version made simultaneosly by Lang with French actors, a couple of interviews with Lang, actor Rudolf Schündler and German Mabuse expert Michael Farin, production design drawings and a collection of memorabilia, press books, stills and posters.

Anyone even remotely interested in thrillers and/or movie history simply must see this film. Forget that it's German, forget that it's over 70 years old; "The testament of Dr. Mabuse" is a timeless proof of that you don't need a big budget and computorised special effects to create movie magic. With this edition Lang's final masterpiece will hopefully get the credit it deserves. If you're tired of overblown Hollywood productions with overpaid stars that (almost) never deliver what they promise, this one is for you. It's the grandmother ("M" being the grandfather) of all modern thrillers and still a hell of a lot better than most of them. Buy it!!!

Testament of Dr. Mabuse begins with Berlin's police inspector Lohmann (Otto Wernicke), receiving a phone call from a certain Hofmeister that is suspiciously cut off with strange noise in the background. Lohmann's investigation leads to a mysterious disappearance of Hofmeister and more strange crimes begin to appear. Lohmann is flabbergasted over the new crime wave as new leads brings him to a mental institution where Dr. Mabuse has been committed for his insane crimes. However, Dr. Mabuse has been diagnosed as incapable of daily functioning since he has been attached to a writing pad for ten years where he has been writing incomprehensible gibberish. There seems to be something sinister that is working behind the curtain, but that is for Lohmann to discover.

The sound, cinematography, and special effects are jaw dropping considering when the film was shot as these aspects of film making, still to this day, enhance the alarm and horror that the audience experiences. For example, in the opening shot the camera pans across a dusty attic turned into an engineering workshop while the deafening mechanical sound induces frightening mental images illustrates Lang's ingenious directing skills. The visual special effects are also advanced as Lang displays an exploding barrel with convincing sound. This demonstrates Lang's understanding for the importance of sound in film as it is not only used for dialogue, but to elevate the cinematic experience. In the end Testament of Dr. Mabuse offers a remarkable cinematic experience that has earned it a spot in film history by being a political statement as well as an aesthetic example of cinema at its finest.