Fritz Lang is the most influential filmmaker in the history of German cinema, with renowned classics like M, Metropolis, Dr. Mabuse, and The Big Heat. But of the 40+ films he directed, one of his best and most underrated is Destiny (Der müde Tod in German) which was released 100 years ago. Destiny was a relatively early film by Lang, and for years the intertitles were thought to be lost until they were recovered by German film historian Enno Patalas. In 2016, Kino released a blu-ray with Lang’s original color tintings. As a result, it’s now easier and more accessible than ever to watch this brilliant film.
Silent films do engage you in a different and sometimes more focused way, and sometimes a simple introduction to a character is all that you need, especially in a highly structured film this like. Destiny, loosely inspired by the Indian filktale of Savitri, is centered around a woman whose lover has just passed away. The film’s theme is succinctly summarized as “can love win out over death?” The young woman strongly believes this and after begging and negotiating, she manages to get Death to agree to bring back her lover if she is able to use love to save three lives hanging precariously in the balance.
This is the framing device, and the bulk of the rest of the movie is made up of three exotic romantic and dangerous stories set in Persia, Venice, and China. There is a kind of folklore/myth style to this storytelling – full of parables, mystery, suspense, romance, tragedy, and drama. It’s also an entertaining and diverse way of telling the story in a very classical literary setup that may seem strange to the modern moviegoer, but is somehow still captivating in its essence. The film is highly stylized but adaptable, and though the German Expressionist trademarks are unmistakeable, there is also an element of romantic fantasy that adds a lot of shading to this black-and-white film.
In some ways, the film seems more like a play than a modern movie. The set and costume designs look fantastic, though the production budget must have been astronomical for its time. There are some really effective special effects that still hold up today – the fact that Lang edited the film himself is mind-blowing. As the anthology progresses, you start to see the patterns emerging from each short story and the constant attempts to outrun one’s destined fate.
The main character (played by the fabulous Lil Dagover who is presaging some strong Carrie Fisher vibes) is a strong female, and she only gets stronger and stronger, and gains more and more agency, with each story. There’s no doubt that she’s the heroine of the movie, and she is no damsel in distress – she is the one trying to save her beloved. The other memorable character here is Death itself. Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal usually gets all the credit for generating the archetypical character of personified Death, but that was largely inspired by Bernhard Goetzke’s portrayal here over 35 years prior.
The ending is gut-wrenchingly fitting for a film that is propelled by the desparate lengths that the lovesick and grief-striken are driven to. Destiny is one of the most deeply personal and affecting of Lang’s films, and loses none of its power almost a century later.
Now streaming on the Criterion Channel.
