Dr. Mabuse, Der Spieler (Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler)

Image credit: Wikipedia

There is no doubt that, narratively, genre films have gone through phases of becoming increasingly complicated: whether it be the ‘scientific’ intricacies of sci-fi or the superhero origin story, or the seemingly endless cast of characters that populate a gangster drama. There have definitely been a number of movies that I have gotten to the end of and thought, ‘there was a bit too much in that for me to keep track of’.

I discovered recently that this overloading audiences with everything plus the kitchen sink approach is nothing new though, having just finished watching Fritz Lang’s 1922 2-part thriller Dr. Mabuse, Der Spieler (Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler).

The film chronicles the dramatic, thrilling, and unsettling exploits of Dr. Mabuse (Rudolf Klein-Rogge), a renown supercriminal and master of disguise with ambitions to upset the stability of society and rule over Berlin. From running a counterfeit operation to stealing a Swiss-Dutch trade agreement and causing a major upset in the stock market, Mabuse’s plans are far-reaching and grand, which becomes a problem when the determined State Attorney von Wenk (Bernhard Goetzke) gets on his trail.

While the narrative itself is not too difficult to follow: it’s essentially a thrilling game of cat and mouse between the societal ‘hero’ and the supervillain, Lang packs the film to absolute bursting point with everything from politics, to satire, to sex, to social commentary, to horror, violence, art, psychology, and special effects. A commercial success in which the villain is the embodiment of the real evils of the era, Dr. Mabuse treads a fine line between the surreal and the pulpy. You can definitely see elements of the noir, a little prophetic of the hardboiled detective films of Bogart, Oceans Eleven, and even Die Hard.

While the achievements in makeup design, set design, costumes, and even special effects are to be applauded in this movie, the real star is the narrative figure of Mabuse. A vessel for the film’s social commentary on the ‘worth’ of money, the strength of morals, and the terrifying idea that we can’t even trust our own minds, Mabuse is wonderfully manipulative both inside and outside the film. Handling identity photos like a deck of playing cards, we don’t even get confirmation of who this character is until almost midway through the film, his actions and reactions are indicative of a person with no readable (thus unfathomable) emotional slate, and there is a truly delicious – if very tragic- irony in what happens to him in the end. Lang expertly uses Mabuse as a key narrative tool to convey the intelligence of this movie that lies underneath all the shallow thrills of sex, violence, action, and intrigue. It’s very smart, very compelling, and stands up against the tests of time.

Image credit: Film Forum

Considering that this is the man who would later bring us Metropolis, it’s unsurprising that this level of spectacle could be achieved in a (seemingly) simple cat-and-mouse criminal thriller. Dr. Mabuse, while long, harbours a lot to be enjoyed.

Director: Fritz Lang, 1922

Cast: Rudolph Klein-Rogge, Alfred Abel, Aud Egede Nissen, Gertrude Welcker, Bernhard Goetzke, Robert Forster-Larrinaga, Paul Richterll, Hans Adalbert Schlettow, Georg John, Grete Berger, Julius Falkenstein, Lydia Potechina, Anita Berber, Paul Biensfeldt & Karl Platen