The Films of Fritz Lang: Allegories of Vision and Modernity

by Tom Gunning

Overview

This study examines the early work of Fritz Lang, proposing readings of the entire output of one of cinema's foremost directors. It emphasizes Lang's reflection on modernity, and hones in on the problem of identity and subjectivity in a progressively more automated, impersonal world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780851707433
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/28/2000
Edition description:	2000
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Tom Gunning is Professor of Art History, Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago. He is the author of D.W. Griffith and the Origins of American Narrative Film: The Early Years at Biograph.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments                        ixIntroduction: Standing Outside the Films - Emblems PART I: Reading the Text of Death -- Lang's Silent Allegories: Der mude Tod (1921), Die Nibelungen (1924), Metropolis   The Marchen: Der mude Tod -- Death and the   Maiden   The Decay of Myth: Siegfried's Death,            34   Kriemhild's Revenge   Metropolis: The Dance of Death PART II: The Mastery of Crime -- Lang's Urban Thrillers: Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922), Spies (1928), The Testament of Dr. Mabuse   Mabuse, Grand Enunciator: Control and   Co-ordination   Haghi   The Testament of Dr. Mabuse PART III: Hinge -- M   M: The City Haunted by Demonic Desire PART IV: Fritz Lang's America - The Social Trilogy: Fury (1936), You Only Live Once (1937), You and Me   You Ought to Be in Pictures: Liliom and Fury   You Only Live Once   You and Me PART V: Framing Desire: The Woman in the Window (1944), Scarlet Street (1945), The Secret Beyond the Door (1948), House by the River   The Woman in the Window: Cycles of Desire   Scarlet Street: Life Is a Nightmare   Secret Beyond the Door: Broken Frames and   Piercing Gazes   Coda: House by the River PART VI: The 50s Exposes and Lang's Last Testament: The Blue Gardenia (1953), The Big Heat (1953), While the City Sleeps (1955), Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956), The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse   The Blue Gardenia   The Big Heat   While the City Sleeps/Beyond a Reasonable   Doubt   The Circle Closes on the Last Mabuse Notes                                              481 Bibliography                                       507 Index                                              519