Fritz Lang - Spione aka Spies (1928)

Fritz Lang - Spione aka Spies (1928)

Directed by Fritz Lang

With Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Gerda Maurus, Lien Deyers

Germany 1928, 35mm, b/w, silent, 178 min. German inter-titles with English subtitles (separate .srt file)

The brief prologue of Lang’s first independent production condenses the spy genre to a cascade of iconographic images: hands pilfering a secret document from a safe, a motorcyclist’s daring escape, newspaper headlines reporting the crime, the murder of a diplomat followed swiftly by the dispatching of the crime’s sole witness, and, irreducibly, the smiling visage of the criminal mastermind behind it all. Like that of Mabuse, Haghi’s power is a function of his ability to observe and control events across time and space, an emergent form of panopticism Lang details, almost lovingly, with crisp insert shots and a breathless pacing. With each discrete image threatening to pull the film into its own orbit, Spies gives ideal expression to the director’s insight that modernity can only be grasped as a series of converging simultaneities — an essentially conspiratorial vision forty years ahead of Jacques Rivette and Thomas Pynchon’s similarly elaborate narratives.

Rudolf Kleine-Rogge stars as Haghi, the head of an elaborate criminal empire, and Willy Fritsch is the undercover agent assigned to topple the diabolical king from his throne. Filled with the sexual intrigue and high-tech gadgetry that continue to define the genre, SPIES remains remarkably contemporary, even 75 years after its premiere. Previously seen in the U.S. in a severely truncated form, Fritz Lang's elaborate super-spy thriller is at last restored to its proper length. This newly restored edition of SPIES is composed of the best surviving 35mm film elements, assembled from archives throughout the world. It is more than 50 minutes longer than any version available since its original release.

It’s pretty wild to see a James Bond movie made in 1928 — directed by Fritz Lang no less—and yet, HERE IT IS! So many elements of a cinematic 007 adventure are here: the urbane agent with a number instead of a name, the scheming, egomaniacal mastermind, and the beautiful adventuress caught between the two of them. Said mastermind, the nefarious Haghi (Rudolf Klein-Rogge -- Dr. Mabuse himself!) and his espionage organization (complete with secret underground base beneath the streets of Berlin) are a virtual blueprint for the cinematic SPECTRE envisioned by Broccoli and Saltzman. However, in spite of all of these interesting similarities, this is no spy spoof, no romp. This adventure is firmly entrenched in the dark world of Lang, and cold, chaotic cynicism of Weimar Berlin. It’s all positively DIABOLICAL!

comment: Learn something about the cunning methods the Illuminati have been and are using to attain total control over politicians, judges, journalists, and all other people relevant in American society today.

*** General Parameters ***
- Name: Fritz Lang - Spione.m4v
- Container: M4V - QuickTime
- Size: 1.697 GB
- Duration: 2h 24mn
- Bitrate: 1 568 Kbps

*** Video Track Parameters ***
- Format: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
- Bitrate: Max.: --- / Average: 1 398 Kbps / Min.: ---
- Frame rate (fps): Max.: 25.000 / Average: 24.937 / Min.: 8.333
- Encoding profile: High@L3.1
- Image size: 698*570
- Pixel Aspect Ratio: Undefined
- Display Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Interlacing: Progressive

*** First Audio Track Parameters ***
- Format: AAC - MPEG-4 audio
- Bitrate: 165 Kbps
- Resolution: Undefined
- Rate: 48.0 KHz
- Channel(s): 2 (stereo)
- Position: Front: L R

tags: film, 1928, Germany, Fritz Lang, bw, action, love, espionage, conspiracy