M (film) Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Lotte H. Eisner

Critical Essay by Lotte H. Eisner

Lang's films are characterised by their peculiar mixture of realism and fantasy…. Even during his German period, in which so many critics find evidence of Expressionist influence—for instance the three-dimensional effects achieved in Metropolis or M by means of lighting—the films demonstrate Lang's mastery in combining documentary structures and adventure fantasy.

Again and again Lang declares that every film must evolve its own style according to the subject matter. Yet in every film we encounter the characteristic Lang elements—not only in Metropolis where the documentary element is projected into the future, or in Destiny where the fantastic elements dominate the realistic…. Lang's films, like those of every great cinema creator, reveal a profound underlying unity. (pp. 140-41)

[Lang believes that] character determines human fate: character is the demon of man. All Lang's American films will demonstrate this belief, with their recurrent questions: Where does guilt begin? What is innocence? What...
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