Wolff rating: GOOD*
Plot summary: A despot industrialist tries to undermine a plot to overthrow him by sabotaging his worker's revolutionary plans.
Biased, pithy comments: Fritz Lang was a brilliant filmmaker. This movie, one of his most famous, has been shown in so many versions (ranging in length from 90 minutes to 3.5 hours) with so many wildly different plotlines that it's hard to say whether or not this is a good show. Really, it depends on your version. Lang, like many Weimar German artists, had a tendency to run long and slow, but even the most yawn-inducing sequence can be punctuated by some really brilliant visual work. My favorites in this were the factory, the workers shuffling in unison in vanguard, the seven deadly sins, and best of all the transformation of the robot. Depending on your tolerance of silent-era overacting and frankly bad pacing here and there, you will either have a good time intellectually or will fall asleep. Still, a fascinating piece of art made in the pre-socialist heyday of Weimar Germany; watch for the development of Communist doctrine that is undermined by the end with a sense of hope. Kudos to Helm (who went on to star in some pretty Nazi films) as the dual role of Maria and the robot.
Other Notes: Lang himself had an interesting career, including a quick exit when asked to head up the Nazi UFA studio.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Alfred Abel, Brigitte Helm, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Gustav Froelich.
Directed by: Fritz Lang