Not his debut (8th film according to IMDB) but my first in the archives for Lang
Quite an epic with the story in 3 parts clearly influenced by Griffith’s intolerance (Mideast story line, Spanish story line and Chinese story line)
Post great war pesimism “a ravaged town”
Early Lang really loves his chapter breaks like the mabuse films- works here really well with the 3 part story
Incredible mise-en-scene work- standouts include some of the shots with 10+ large candle and some of the lighting walking up to death’s house on the stairs
Early portrayal of death- which of course is done most famously by bergman in the seventh seal (1957)
Love vs death clear story/narrative
The film, special effects (on display in Chinese narrative especially with magician story line) and mostly the mise-en-scene size, grandeur and detail is really a brilliant foreshadowing of the work in metropolis to come later in 1927
Top 5 of the year quality
Highly Recommend/Must-See border leaning towards MS
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