The Three Lights (1921)

When a woman's fiancé disappears, Death gives her three chances to save him from his fate.

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou

Stars:

Lil Dagover, Walter Janssen, Bernhard Goetzke

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lil Dagover	...	Young Woman / Das junge Mädchen / Zobeide / Monna Fiametta / Tiao Tsien
Walter Janssen	...	Young Man / Der junge Mann / Franke / Giovan Francesco / Liang
Bernhard Goetzke	...	Death / Der Tod / El Mot / Bogner / Archer
Hans Sternberg	...	Mayor / Bürgermeister
Karl Rückert	...	Reverend (as Carl Rückert)
Max Adalbert	...	Notary / Notar / Schatzmeister / Chancellor
Wilhelm Diegelmann	...	Doctor / Arzt
Erich Pabst	...	Teacher / Lehrer
Karl Platen	...	Pharmacist / Apotheker
Hermann Picha	...	Taylor / Schneider
Paul Rehkopf	...	Grave-Digger / Küster
Max Pfeiffer
Georg John	...	Beggar / Bettler
Lydia Potechina	...	Landlady / Wirtin
Grete Berger	...	Mother / Mutter

Storyline

As a young couple stops and rests in a small village inn, the man is abducted by Death and is sequestered behind a huge doorless, windowless wall. The woman finds a mystic entrance and is met by Death, who tells her three separate stories set in exotic locales, all involving circumstances similar to hers. In each story, a woman, trying to save her lover from his ultimate tragic fate, fails. The young lady realizes the meaning of the tales and takes the only step she can to reunite herself with her lover.

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Plot Keywords:

expressionism | death | wall | stranger | china | 

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Taglines:

The Movie That Inspired Hitchcock and Bunuel! (2016)

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

30 January 1922 (Finland)

Also Known As:

The Weary Death

Filming Locations:

Studio Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,334, 22 May 2016, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$12,156, 19 August 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

Decla-Bioscop AG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 105 min 94 min (2016 restoration)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White Color (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film received a 2K restoration in 2016 by L'Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy, with most of the material coming from New York's Museum of Modern Art and some shots taken from a copy belonging to the Cinémathèque de Toulouse, in France. The titles were rebuilt by Munich's Film Museum, based on a Russian copy, with missing ones coming from archives in Prague and Brussels, while the lost colors take inspiration from contemporary films.

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Quotes

Junge Maedchen: You dread, awful cactus, you!

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Alternate Versions

DVD "Destiny (Der müd Tod)" (c) 2000 by Film Preservation Associates, with English titles and inter-titles by Ulrich Ruedel, tinted with added musical score, running at 99 minutes.

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Connections

Referenced in Macario (1960)

User Reviews

Destiny's Child!

Fritz Lang's DESTINY is an expressionistic romantic-fantasy that centers on a young 19th-century woman as she challenges "Death" in the hope of bringing back her prematurely taken lover. What follows are three moral parables - set in Persia, exotic Venice, and Imperial China, each dealing with ill-fated love. The multi-story format affords Lang limitless opportunities to exercise his cinematic chops. The sets are as usual breathtaking from Gothic cathedrals to eerie sky-scraping walls to oriental castles to never-ending staircases. There's some stunning imagery on view like a spectral horde disappearing into a wall at midnight and of a terrifying hour-glass vision, forecasting impending doom. Candles are used to great effect both aesthetically (to complement the surreal setting) and thematically (as an allegory for mortal life-spans). Bernhard Goetzke's mysterious, darkly-clothed, succinct embodiment of Death might seem stereotypical but is far from it. For Death is not depicted as an arrogant, mustache-twirling entity which revels in its limitless power or earthly dominance but contrarily has grown tired of it. Death has become weary of its inevitability, its invincibility and is compassionate towards his mortal subjects. I particularly enjoyed the newly composed score by Cornelius Schwehr and thought it blended seamlessly with the film's grim premise.

DESTINY is perhaps most famous for igniting Luis Buñuel's surrealistic flames and leaving an indelible impression on an aspiring Hitchcock but to be honest the influences are unquantifiable. From its unmissable Bergman (and consequent Woody Allen) impact (THE SEVENTH SEAL and WILD STRAWBERRIES to some extent) to P&P's A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH. The multi- scenario life-saving premise was also reminiscent of Tom Tykwer's RUN, LOLA, RUN.

In the end DESTINY proves to be an ambitious little early-Lang which is frequently thrilling but doesn't come close to some of his subsequent masterpieces, then again few things do.