SYNOPSIS
One of the
legendary epics of the silent cinema — and the first part of a trilogy
that
Fritz Lang developed up to the very end of his career — Dr.
Mabuse, der
Spieler. [Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler.] is a masterpiece of
conspiracy that, even as it precedes the mind-blowing Spione from the close of Lang's silent cycle,
constructs its own dark labyrinth from the base materials of human fear
and
paranoia.
Rudolf
Klein-Rogge plays Dr. Mabuse, the criminal mastermind whose nefarious
machinations provide the cover for — or describe the result of — the
economic
upheaval and social bacchanalia at the heart of Weimar-era Berlin.
Initiated
with the arch-villain's diabolical manipulation of the stock-market,
and
passing through a series of dramatic events based around hypnotism,
charlatanism, hallucinations, Chinese incantations, cold-blooded
murder, opiate
narcosis and cocaine anxiety, Lang's film maintains an unrelenting
power all
the way to the final act... which culminates in the terrifying
question:
"WHERE IS MABUSE?!"
A
bridge
between Feuillade's somnambulistic serial-films and modern
media-narratives of
elusive robber-barons, Lang's two-part classic set the template for the
director's greatest works: social commentary as superpsychology, poised
at the
brink of combustion. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present
Lang's
early masterpiece in its fully-restored version on Blu-ray in 1080p for
the
first time ever.
