Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 7, 2013

Fritz Lang's legendary silent film "Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler - Ein Bild der Zeit" a.k.a "The Mabuse: The Gambler" (1922) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include an audio commentary by film scholar David Kalat; video interview with composer Aljoscha Zimmermann; discussion of Norbert Jacques' novel; and a featurette with clips from an archival interview with the German director. With German intertitles and optional English subtitles. Region-B "locked".

The manipulator

The film is set during the Weimar era, a time of great uncertainty and even greater opportunities to get rich quick. The location is Berlin, a beautiful city that loves to party.

Dr. Mabuse (played brilliantly by the great Rudolf Klein-Rogge) is a psychoanalyst and the leader of a criminal organization with active members all around the city. During the day, Dr. Mabuse is a kind man who seems committed to an important research project. At night, he visits the city’s popular gambling dens and fancy clubs where the rich like to spend their money.

While attending the Folies Bergeres show, Dr. Mabuse is provided with important information about his next target, the handsome aristocrat Edgar Hull (Paul Richter, Fritz Lang's Siegfried), who loves to play cards. Shortly after, Dr. Mabuse uses his psychic powers and forces Hull to lose a large amount of money in a game of poker. When Hull eventually recovers from the hypnosis he tries to remember Dr. Mabuse’s face, but his mind draws a blank.

State prosecutor Norbert von Wenk (Bernhard Goetzke, Destiny) becomes interested in Hull’s experience because he suspects that he is the latest victim in a series of impressive scams. Soon after, pretending to be a naive and rich gambler von Wenk attracts Dr. Mabuse who promptly attempts to trick his mind as well. Realizing what is underway, Wenk rejects the hypnosis, but Dr. Mabuse quickly disappears without a trace.

Determined to put the dangerous scammer behind bars, von Wenk approaches Countess Told (Gertrude Welcker, THe Mirror of the World), the bored wife of Count Told (Alfred Abel, Metropolis), who spends most of her time in Berlin’s posh clubs and knows everything there is to know about those who frequent them. The Countess agrees to help von Wenk, but when she eventually meets Dr. Mabuse something unusual happens that seriously complicates von Wenk’s plan to capture the elusive gambler.

Fritz Lang’s legendary silent film Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler runs at well over 270 minutes and is divided into two large parts: Der grosse Spieler: Ein Bild der Zeit and Inferno: Ein Spiel um Menschen unserer Zeit. Each part is also further broken into individual acts.

Based on the famous novel by Norbert Jacques, Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler is a dark and very atmospheric film with multiple identities. A rather large part of it can be described as an early gangster film with a degree of socio-political awareness that is absolutely fascinating. Indeed, the film captures the spirit of Weimar Germany with astonishing accuracy -- the financial uncertainty, the dangerous static between the haves and have nots, and the erosion of morality are all prominent themes in the film.

There are also shocking similarities between Dr. Mabuse and Adolph Hitler’s profiles that make it easy to speculate that Lang had created a very different kind of film. Dr. Mabuse, a man with a dangerous mind and ambitions, easily rises to the top in a corrupt state on the brink of financial collapse. Only a few years later, Hitler will also hypnotize Germany with his speeches and transform it into an evil empire.

The visuals are breathtaking and in many ways also groundbreaking. The massive sets and Carl Hoffmann’s (Faust) terrific use of light and shadow make select sequences look as if they have been extracted from an experimental noir film, while elsewhere the tense atmosphere seems perfect for an early horror film.

Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler is complimented by a chamber score composed by the late Aljoscha Zimmermann (The Golem).

Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment.

Please note that the screencaptures included with this review appear in the following order:

1. Screencaptures #1-15: Der grosse Spieler: Ein Bild der Zeit .
2. Screencaptures #17-30: Inferno: Ein Spiel um Menschen unserer Zeit

The following text is included before the film's opening credits:

"The restoration was carried out in 2000 by the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation in Wiesbaden, based on the camera negative for distribution in Germany and an export negative from the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv in Berlin. This version follows a reconstruction by the Filmmuseum Munchen from 1991. The intertitles were taken from the negatives. Missing, faulty or damaged titles were revised and restored with the help of the censor records. The comparison and the copying was carried out by L'Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna. The master negative of this edit was used for the 2K digital version."

My only criticism pertains to the presence of a few extremely light chroma-like effects that pop up during a couple of scenes (see screencapture #23). However, I believe that most viewers will be unable to spot them. The rest of the technical presentation is very impressive. Image depth, clarity and even contrast stability are very good. Because of the improved resolution, shadow definition is also far more pleasing when compared to that of the R2 DVD release. The best news, however, is that there are absolutely no traces of excessive degraining corrections. Needless to say, the film has a terrific organic look. Debris, cuts, damage marks, warps, and stains have also been removed as best as possible. All in all, I think that this is a lovely presentation of director Lang's legendary film that should make its fans very happy. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: LPCM 2.0. For the record, Eureka Entertainment have provided optional English subtitles for the German intertitles used in the film.

The lossless track is outstanding. The late Aljoscha Zimmermann's score sounds lush and well rounded, beautifully complimenting the atmospheric visuals. Despite the chamber qualities of the score, dynamic intensity is also terrific. For the record, there are absolutely no audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review.

Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

BLU-RAY DISC ONE

• Audio Commentary Part I - this audio commentary with film scholar David Kalat was recorded exclusively for The Masters of Cinema series in 2009. Mr. Kalat offers a wealth of information addressing the film's production history, its unique themes, and some of the different versions of the film that exist. Also provided is interesting information about the socio-political climate in Germany at the time when the film was made, as well as the novel by Norbert Jacques that inspired it.

BLU-RAY DISC TWO

• Mabuse's Music - in this video interview, the late Aljoscha Zimmermann discusses the restoration score of Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler, and specifically its unique harmonic structure. In German, with optional English subtitles. (13 min).

• Norbert Jacques - in this video piece, film scholar and writer Michael Farin discusses the famous novel by Norbert Jacques that inspired Fritz Lang to film Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler. In German, with optional English subtitles. (10 min).

• Mabuse's Motives - an excellent featurette focusing on the history, significance, and unique qualities of Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler. The featurette contains clips from an archival interview with Fritz Lang as well as clips from classic German silent films. In German, with optional English subtitles. (30 min).

• Audio Commentary Part II - this audio commentary with film scholar David Kalat was recorded exclusively for The Masters of Cinema series in 2009. Mr. Kalat offers a wealth of information addressing the film's production history, its unique themes, and some of the different versions of the film that exist. Also provided is interesting information about the socio-political climate in Germany at the time when the film was made, as well as the novel by Norbert Jacques that inspired it.

• Booklet - 32-page illustrated booklet featuring vintage reprints of writing by Fritz Lang.

Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hugely atmospheric and thought-provoking, Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler has to be seen multiple times to be fully appreciated. Fortunately, this new Blu-ray release from Eureka Entertainment, which features a beautiful restoration of the film carried out by the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation in Wiesbaden, makes this extremely easy. Indeed, the film looks quite beautiful, clearly the best it ever has on any home video format. Well done. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.