Fritz Lang: Circle of Destiny (2004)

I must admit that I found this obscure French documentary especially interesting. Fritz Lang is my favorite director but that belief is based almost exclusively on his English language films since I have only seen a handful of the German silents discussed here.

The opinions on these films and Lang himself are presented by a number of personalities ranging from early noir pioneer Curt Siodmak to the French auteur Claude Chabrol. The documentary opens with a grabber: the first shots (and sounds) from Lang's last film made in Germany until after the war, "The Testament of Dr. Mabuse" All of the scenes from the earlier films seemed to be sourced from great prints and just enough is shown from each to want to make a fan seek them out.

While the prospects of a French documentary about a German silent director will not appear to be exciting to the average viewer this is a must see for those that enjoy the genre.