Destiny (1921)

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Blistering performances.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

When a woman's fiancé disappears, Death gives her three chances to save him from his fate.This is the sort of movie that made an impact in its own time. Douglas Fairbanks purchased the American rights, to delay its general American release while he copied the effects of the Persian segment for his 1924 "The Thief of Baghdad". Luis Bunuel has said this is the film that got him interested in movies, and apparently Alfred Hitchcock has praised it as well.I would not praise it quite on the level either of them did. It is not Fritz Lang's best film by a long shot, nor the best film of the German Expressionist era. But still worth seeing, if for no other reason than it is a Lang film, and stars Lil Dagover, arguably the greatest actress of the Weimar period.

A beautiful parable, pitting the power of love against death. Frits Lang drew tenderness and emotion from actors, scenery, special effects and artful cinematography. The most beautiful, entrancing scenes are those set in a pre-Industial Revolution village in Europe, blending fantasy and atmospheric depth. After pleading with a sad, sympathetic Death, a young woman is given several chances to bring her beloved back to life. Her consciousness travels to destinations around the globe in three stories within the greater story, framed by the primary story set in Europe. Although these wonderful supplemental foreign scenes fall short of the scenes in the primary location, each has marvelous elements of character and magical effects which keep them from dragging the film down. DESTINY a gleaming jewel in Lang's impressive legacy of classic films.

My discovery of Fritz Lang's cinema continues to take me to wonderful places. After enjoying his Mabuse movies and the seminal thriller M, I take a look at one of his earliest silent movies: Destiny.Written between Lang his frequent collaborator, Thea Von Harbou, Destiny is an anthology fantasy movie comprised of three stories and bookended by a game between Death and a woman trying to bring her dead lover back to life. The movie begins as a newlywed couple stops at an inn. On the way an austere man dressed up in black gets on their coach. The woman leaves the table for an instant and when she returns, the husband and the stranger are gone. She looks for them and discovers her husband's spirit wandering outside the walls of a giant precinct Death erected to make a garden, presumably of souls.Death is so amazed by her devotion, that he proposes a challenge: he gives her the chance to save one life about to perish; she has three chances and needs only save one. If she does, Death will return her lover to him.This is an artifice to tell three wonderful and fantasy-laden stories in different settings: there's one in Persia, one in Venice, and one in ancient China. All are variations on the same themes - love and the inevitability of death.What most impressed me in this movie were the art direction and costume design of the different stories. They were epic: imagine thousands of extras, flamboyant designs, huge sets. It's like watching a D.W. Griffith movie at times. One of the most impressive sets was the interior of Death's room, an endless space cluttered with burning candles, each representing a soul burning itself out.Next was the imagination of the stories. In particular there's the last story, set in China, that has many wondrous elements, like flying carpets, flying horses, a miniature army, and many magic spells transforming people into objects and bringing objects into life. This story alone has influenced movies such as Douglas Fairbanks' The Thief of Bagdad and The Adventures of Prince Achmed.Then there's the premise underlying the story: that death is irreversible. The movie has a touch of sentimentality, since it shows the lovers reuniting in death, but the movie shows death is not something that can be bargained with. It's a fact that must be accepted.Fans of Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal will want to watch this movie to compare Bernhard Goetzke's portrayal of Death with Bengt Ekerot's. Lang and Bergman didn't see Death the same way: Lang's Death is a cursed soul, weary of its own existence, whereas Bergman's is cynical, scheming and perhaps has a certain taste in its job.I was amazed at how easily I immersed myself in this movie. I was afraid I'd have no interest in this movie, being a silent movie, but Lang's direction is so good and modern I was in thrall most of the time. I'm glad I watched this movie, it's a part of film history that should never be forgotten.

Fritz Lang's 1921 film Destiny] is reportedly based on a dream he had as a child. I can only assume that he must have immersed himself in old school narratives such as myths, folk tales, and Greek tragedy from an early age since this somewhat allegorical film immediately brings those traditions to mind. In fact, you can almost see where he picked up various parts of the plot. Fortunately, he put them together in a brilliantly unique way. This film manages to bring to mind the best traditional tales from various cultures and periods while maintaining a wonderfully fresh and inventive mood throughout.Like many of the greatest tales of yore, Destiny is about a pair of young lovers who are separated from each other suddenly. After this separation, the narrative resembles a sort of Orpheaic journey with one key reversal: in Destiny it is the female character who strives to rescue the endangered male. She is given three shots to save her beloved, each of which takes place in a different part of the world. This somewhat unusual structure allows Lang to experiment with different styles to match the traditions of each place she visits.Not only does Destiny do an excellent job with a universal (but uncomplicated) theme, it also has more than its share of memorable visuals. Although cinema's most famous personification of Death is Bergman's version from The Seventh Seal, it is surely Lang's version that most evokes the essence of the character. Indeed, I for one find this Death to be more memorable than Bergman's. Other memorable visuals include the towering wall built by Death, the candles used to represent lives, and the various spells conjured up by a Chinese magician, particularly an army of tiny men.I'm very grateful to everyone here who has recommended this film-it's truly a film like no other and an indisputable masterpiece.