{"id":5250,"date":"2014-12-20T12:05:09","date_gmt":"2014-12-20T11:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/?p=5250"},"modified":"2014-12-20T12:05:09","modified_gmt":"2014-12-20T11:05:09","slug":"spione","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2014\/12\/20\/spione\/","title":{"rendered":"Spione"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Spione\"<\/a>
Spione<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\nFormat:<\/B> Dual Format (DVD + Blu-ray)

\nRelease date:<\/B> 24 November 2014

\nDistributor:<\/B> Eureka Entertainment

\nDirector:<\/B> Fritz Lang

\nWriters:<\/B> Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou

\nBased on the novel by:<\/B> Thea von Harbou

\nCast:<\/B> Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Gerda Maurus, Willy Fritsch

\nGermany 1928

\n145 mins\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Fritz Lang\u2019s Spione<\/i> starts with a bang and rarely lets up. Documents are stolen, couriers assassinated, there\u2019s a motorcycle chase and all hell breaks lose at the Ministry of War, yelling and shouting that something must be done. The frenetic excitement of the opening minutes and much of the unflagging two and a half hours of glorious entertainment that follow suggest a conscious need to please, divert and thrill. <\/p>\n

For Lang, the film was a return to familiar territory. Following the grandiose and financially disastrous Metropolis<\/i><\/a>, the 38-year-old director found himself besieged. His studio, UFA, wanted to dump the blame for the disaster onto him and get rid of him, and there was undoubtedly the anxiety that he had lost his touch, lost his ability to pull in an audience. Harking back to his earlier work, Spione<\/i> was \u2018a small film, with plenty of action\u2019 as Lang himself described it. Based on a screenplay by his wife Thea von Harbou, the story revolves around a Mabuse-like super-criminal, Haghi (played by Mabuse actor and Harbou\u2019s former husband Rudolf Klein-Rogge). Haghi sports a Lenin beard, smokes cigarettes that must taste of brimstone and perfidy, and sits in a wheelchair in his secret lair located in an important bank. <\/p>\n

Ranged against him are the inept and bureaucratic government agencies, who are largely played for laughs with red-faced confusion and a lot of harrumphing from Jason (Craighall Sherry), the head of the agency tasked with bringing Haghi to justice. If anything is to be done it will be thanks to the agent known only as Number 326 (Willy Fritsch). Initially a streetwise tramp, 326 quickly sheds his disguise to become a dapper gentleman, but his cover is already blown and Sonja Baranilkowa (Gerda Maurus), one of Haghi\u2019s agents, has been sent to seduce and compromise him. However, Haghi didn\u2019t bank on Sonja and 326 falling in love.<\/p>\n

Lang keeps everything going at a hell of a pace and there are a number of stunning set-pieces. His universe is one of detail, and he litters the film with scraps of information, numbers and names, a puzzle to be unpicked, but the meaning of which, or even the existence of meaning, remains unclear. Haghi\u2019s power is facilitated by the corruption of the society he seeks to destroy. Not only is its elite ripe for extortion \u2013 a wealthy society girl is blackmailed because of her opium habit, inscrutable Japanese spy Akira Masimoto (Lupu Pick) falls for a rain-sodden waif \u2013 but its institutions are inept and blustering and deskbound. Whereas Haghi has a nicely minimalist control panel and a telephone, Jason et al are buried under mounds of paperwork. Haghi himself, though, represents a paradox, one perhaps that lies at the heart of all conspiracy theories. If this master criminal is so powerful, with his massive infrastructure and his metaphorical tentacles stretching, his obvious wealth and endless resources as the director of a bank, then what does he hope to gain by all this convoluted plotting? This point is made all the weirder when he reveals that he doesn\u2019t even need a wheelchair. Why go to the bother and discomfort of pretending to be an invalid? As William S. Burroughs might have observed, we are all controlled by our need to control. <\/p>\n

Ultimately, Fritz Lang\u2019s film is a thrilling entertainment, whose inventiveness is evident in every scene, almost every shot. Twists can happen on every level, from the narrative to something as simple as a location. A brutal fight in a boxing ring is revealed to be incongruously and brilliantly taking place in a nightclub. The details \u2013 a bloody hand print on a stolen document \u2013 tell a whole story, and his characters are drawn with a variety of techniques, from naturalism to heightened theatricality. As Adrian Martin<\/a> notes in his brilliant essay on the film, everyone smokes in a highly individual way. Of course it is difficult to watch pre-war German cinema without glimpsing foreshadowing and prophecies for what is yet to come, but this restored and re-mastered version will now allow everyone to experience this world at its darkest and brightest.<\/p>\n

Eureka’s Masters of Cinema dual format release of Spione<\/i> comes with a 69-minute documentary on the film and a 40-page booklet including new and exclusive writing by critic Murielle Joudet and an essay by Jonathan Rosenbaum.<\/div>\n

John Bleasdale<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fritz Lang\u2019s inventive, thrilling spy adventure is full of twisted plotting and rich details.
\nReview by John Bleasdale<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,3],"tags":[1125,1126,27,209,168,184,1124],"class_list":["post-5250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-check-it-out","category-dvds-and-blu-rays","tag-action-films","tag-early-cinema","tag-fritz-lang","tag-german-cinema","tag-silent-film","tag-spy-films","tag-thea-von-harbou"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/surUP-spione","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":274,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2014\/08\/07\/frau-im-mond\/","url_meta":{"origin":5250,"position":0},"title":"Frau im Mond","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"August 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Fritz Lang's space travel movie may be let down by a flawed narrative but the context surrounding its creation remains fascinating. Review by Philip Winter","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Frau im Mond","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/Frau-im-Mond-594x449.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/Frau-im-Mond-594x449.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/Frau-im-Mond-594x449.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1513,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2011\/02\/03\/man-hunt\/","url_meta":{"origin":5250,"position":1},"title":"Man Hunt","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"February 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Having left Germany and his wife - the Nazi-sympathising Thea von Harbou - behind, Fritz Lang was soon well established in Hollywood. Review by Paul Huckerby","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/review_man_hunt1-594x361.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/review_man_hunt1-594x361.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/review_man_hunt1-594x361.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2344,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2012\/06\/11\/you-only-live-once\/","url_meta":{"origin":5250,"position":2},"title":"You Only Live Once","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"June 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"You Only Live Once was Fritz Lang's second American film. Review by Paul Huckerby","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/review_youonlyliveonce-594x415.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/review_youonlyliveonce-594x415.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/review_youonlyliveonce-594x415.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":916,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2010\/02\/01\/m\/","url_meta":{"origin":5250,"position":3},"title":"M","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"February 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The first time I saw M, my experience of the film was dominated by Peter Lorre's startling performance. Review by Peter Momtchiloff","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/review_M-594x445.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/review_M-594x445.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/review_M-594x445.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1311,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2010\/09\/04\/metropolis\/","url_meta":{"origin":5250,"position":4},"title":"Metropolis","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"September 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"From its inception, Fritz Lang's science-fiction spectacle Metropolis was a film destined to be talked about in nothing less than superlatives. Review by Pamela Jahn","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/review_Metropolis-594x445.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/review_Metropolis-594x445.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/review_Metropolis-594x445.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2522,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2012\/11\/30\/die-nibelungen\/","url_meta":{"origin":5250,"position":5},"title":"Die Nibelungen","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"November 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Fritz Lang's five-hour hallucinatory epic take on mythic tale Die Nibelungen is available now from Masters of Cinema (Eureka) in a spectacular new HD restoration DVD\/Blu-ray set. Comic Strip Review by Alex Fitch, Charles Cutting and Timur Hassan","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/siegfried_comic_900-594x924.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/siegfried_comic_900-594x924.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/siegfried_comic_900-594x924.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5250"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5252,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5250\/revisions\/5252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}