HoopTober 8: Mosquito Takes Mandragon

Movie 49
Six decades: 2nd of 2 films from the 30's

Fritz Lang is one of those film-makers who I feel like I've discovered late - someone who has a huge body of work which I am extremely excited to explore. Needless to say, his Dr Mabuse films are right at the top of the list (I have the first on blu-ray but am slightly daunted by its 4 hour run time - I'll get to it, though). And it's not as if I didn't think The Testament of Dr Mabuse was good - it's beautifully made and it has some fantastic moments. But I was just a little bit disappointed in it.

I suspect my reservations may be a little frivolous. I mean, I did expect some kind of horror movie, and I'm just not sure this qualifies. Is this a case where other films in the series are more like horror, and so all entries get given the same label? Because this is a detective / crime story - kind of a whodunit, although I guess more of a who's-doin-it. There are some moments of horrific imagery involving the disembodied Dr Mabuse - moments of incredible impact - but other than these, this is more like the kind of plot you'd get in a Tintin book (which I'd generally be down for, but this left me feeling slightly unfulfilled given my expectations).

Also, the crime plot itself, although certainly imbued with a streak of the bizarre, is rather straightforward - at least in terms of the mystery which, I have to say, I think I solved in the first half hour. And then this film carries on for over two hours - the pacing gets a little bit trudgey.

Mind you, I dismiss the plot as simple, but I am still not sure what the fuck was going on with Mabuse. Was he really dead or not? Look, it was getting late, and I did struggle a bit towards the end (although the final chase sequence is terrific).

I invested in the Eureka blu-ray of this and it does look absolutely gorgeous - polished up wonderfully and that Fritz Arno Wagner cinematography is a marvel to behold. This is a film I am certain to revisit at some point - I wonder if it will resonate more with me once I am more across the basic Mabuse concept? Maybe I needed a little more context going in to this one.