Customer Reviews

Spies [VHS]

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SPIES appropriately marks the beginning of the modern spy thriller as we know it today. It features an intrepid hero, a beautiful woman with divided loyalties and a cunning and diabolical villain. There is also international intrigue, bedroom politics, gadgets galore and spectacular stunts. What raises it above the ordinary is Fritz Lang's passion for detail and the emphasis on the principal woman character.

Women are the central focus of Lang's films during the 1920's from Kriemhild in DIE NIBELUNGEN to Maria in METROPOLIS and Friede in WOMAN IN THE MOON thanks to scriptwriter Thea von Harbou (Lang's wife at the time) whose stories concentrate on the power of love to redeem or destroy. Sonja in SPIES is no exception. Everything revolves around her. Put all this together and you have a film that is as compelling today as it was 75 years ago.

Rudolf Klein-Rogge (the inventor from METROPOLIS) stars as Haghi, the head of a powerful criminal network whose specialties are blackmail and espionage. Trying to catch him is Agent 326 (Willy Fritsch) of the German State Police where no one has a name only a number. Things are complicated by Haghi's #1 spy Sonja Barranikowa (Gerda Maurus) who is great at obtaining secrets but is haunted by her past. How these characters interact and how the plot resolves itself is what makes SPIES so captivating. There's also a real doozy of an ending.

The restoration work is remarkable adding more than 50 minutes to previous existing versions and the picture quality is superb. Add Donald Sosin's new score and you have a real winner on your hands. Even if you don't know or don't like silent films you'll be entertained. And if you do like them then you can't afford to miss out on this new release from Kino.

It's probably impossible to top "Metropolis", but "Spies" must surely rate as one of Fritz Lang's best films, and this brilliant KINO video DVD clearly shows why. Restored from the best footage from various sources to almost 2 1/2 hours in length, this epic can be watched again and again without ever a dull moment. This is mainly due to quite a complex and fast-moving storyline which demands considerable attention, but well worth the effort and it keeps getting better the more you watch it. Although a lot happens all around in the spy world, the focus is on two individuals who fall in love while assigned to spy out each other's network and activities. The criminal matermind whose spy network undermines the government has become the classic spy movie theme, and watching "Spies" reminded me of James Bond more than once. It is sophisticated and must have been cutting edge in its time, but it still packs a punch even today - much like Fritz Lang's previous great achievement, "Metropolis", of which "Spies" often reminded me. Besides excellent picture quality and easy-to-read intertitles, the musical score is simply brilliant and really caught my attention, such as authentic Japanese music accompanying the scenes of the Japanese head of Secret Service, while other parts feature nice orchestral and piano accompaniment. It is never overbearing however, and always perfectly suited to the mood of each scene, adding to the overall impact of the film. For a busy story with action, suspense, intrigue and an unexpected ending, you can't do much better than this restored version of "Spies".

If you simply take the movie at face value, it's an exciting story from the silent era. This came out during that nervous time between the World Wars. People remembered Russia's recent actions in WWI, and remembered Japan's war with Russia, a few decades past, as a clear indication of a force affecting the West. Weimar Germany represented another unstable force. Soviet infighting was also recent news, as the Trotsky-esque bad guy reminds us. Fiction about international intrigue had plenty of fact to work with - so Lang produced this remarkable work. The modern music suits the movie beautifully. Although other instruments appear, solo piano carries most of the musical narration. Even though it's not synchronized to the imagery on screen, onomatopoetic passage trill to a ringing phone, syncopate to the staccato of Morse Code, and hammer out gunshots, when not simply voicing the general mood of the scene.

Amid the excitement that must have been high-budget in its time, we see the origins of the modern spy-movie staples we see today: elaborate and fallible plots on the good guy's life, the bad guy's lair coming down around his ears in the end, chases, a babe who's not just there to be saved, and a little moral ambiguity. Sonja wasn't 100% on the good guys' side, at least to start, even if she came around in the end.

Anyone with the Bourne movies or Mission Impossible in mind will find the pacing sleepy at best, the effects ineffectual, and the acting as stylized as Kabuki theater. Today's movies learned from this one, though, and from the eighty more years of development between then and now. Taken by itself or as the progenitor of modern spy flicks, it remains an important and engrossing movie.

-- wiredweird

Fritz Lang's "Spies" has all the elements of a classic adventure yarn --- a resourceful hero, a dastardly villain, a gorgeous love interest and dozens of daring escapes and close calls. What makes this movie remarkable is that "Spies" predated the first 007 movie ("Dr. No") by 35 years and, 75 years after its initial release, the movie still entertains.

This is from the same creative team who brought us the more famous "Metropolis," another film ahead of its time. Modern filmmakers need to go back to these German silents, as these movies truly were MOVIES--- storytelling told primarily through visuals. The opening montage in which supervillain Haghi's spy network procures an important document through a series of assassinations is stunningly conceived and executed. Agent 326's battle in the train tunnel is suspenseful; and the subplot with the Japanese diplomat (Lupo Pick) dealing with a seductive female spy is engaging and well-told.

But film is not without flaws. The story suffers from sentimentality at times, particularly involving the romance of 326; and the film's climax--- which has to be seen to be believed, it involves a circus clown--- is hokey and unlikely.

In terms of DVD presentation, I was dissappointed that there was no commentary track, similar to other Fritz Lang DVDs ("Dr. Mabuse the Gambler," "Metropolis.") A critical analysis of the film and some tidbits on how the film was made would have been welcomed. There is a nifty photo slideshow feature, with some rare behind-the-scenes images and publicity from the film, but not much else. The film transfer, however, is superb; and an astonishing 50 minutes of footage is restored.

Despite the nits, this is a worthy addition to any serious cinephile's library.

The 1920s really was Fritz Lang's era. What Stanley Kubrick would later spend a lifetime doing, Lang managed in a mere decade...he remade every genre he touched.

Most prominently he re-made science fiction with Metropolis and later Woman on the Moon.

In terms of fantasy, he re-made that area with one my all time favorites Destiny as well as his Die Nieblinglun series.

And in this excellent film, Lang re-made the espionage movie impuing it with qualities that would remain very current into today's James Bond series.

First, he took a plausible uber spy with dashing looks played by Willy Fritsch. Then he added the arch nemesis played by Rudolph Klein Rogge (who also starred in Lang's Mabuse series as the title character). Finally, he gave them cool gadgets to use in their battles with each other.

As with all his films from the 1920s the writing was under the sure hand of Lang's then wife, Thea von Harbou.

What emerges is not only a very recognizable spy movie but one that actually became the template for all spy movies to follow.

Script: Thea von Harbou - Writer (novel) (screenplay)
Direction: Fritz Lang
Sets: Otto Hunte, Kark Vollrecht
Camera: Fritz Arno Wagner
Original Music: Werner R. Heymann (238 titles)

This fill has all the trills and what now has become clichés from gangster car chases to where the man says I saw who did it and "bang!" AAaaaag. "I'd sooner die like a dog can become a traitor!" If I did not know any better, I would think this was the prototype for the 007 series. Only this time it is No. 326 "Det. Donald Tremaine, English version" (Willy Fritsch). In addition, our beautiful counter spy Sonya Baranilkowa (Gerda Maurus) who's purpose naturally is to reluctantly derail Donald.

I would be lost if it we not for the English subtitles. The only problem is that the many times cover the actual documents in German and it would be nice to see if we are missing something in the translation.

You may want to watch this several times to get all the nuances.

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Though he never admitted it, Alfred Hitchcock borrowed quite a few stylistic elements from Fritz Lang. The German filmmaker's 1928 journey into deceit has individual moments that Hitchcock utilized in "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and "The 39 Steps." However, Lang's world was far more expressionistic. In "Spies," characterization takes a back seat to suspense and intrigue. With the exception of Rudolf Klein-Rogge's mysterious criminal mastermind, the heroes and villains are forgettable. Despite this drawback, Lang stages plenty of serial-style action with cinematic bravado. "Spies" does not rank as high as the director's "M" (1931) and "The Testament of Dr. Mabuse" (1933), yet it remains among the silent era's most exciting thrillers.

Incredibly entertaining spy saga, with emphasis in the use of technology and women for deceit. Lang (as usual) is here visually inventive, suggestive and very fluid. Even when we know what will happen in the next minute (and you can't really see farther than that here) he does it with surprising little twists that make you yearn for a contemporary director like him. If only were a little bit more cinic: is difficult to understand the love central to the story. But it seems that in the end there is hope, honour and love between people.

Fritz Lang's great looking 1928 SPIES (Kino) has been restored from various 35mm elements discovered in mostly European archives. At 143 minutes, this version is more than 50 minutes longer than any previous home video release. Lang's action-filled, super-spy thriller stars Rudolf Kleine-Ragge as Haghi, the head of a complex criminal empire. Willy Fritsch is the undercover agent assigned to topple the crime lord from his throne. The plot is greatly enhanced by focusing on two individuals who fall in love while spying on each other.

Loaded with sexual intrigue and high-tech gadgets, "Spies" remains surprisingly contemporary, even 76 years after its premier. Once again, composer-performer Donald Sosin delivers an intuitively brilliant score that rises organically from Lang's artfully melodramatic scenes. For fans of Lang's "Metropolis," this terrific film is a must.

Fritz Lang is one of the best directors of all time, and SPIONE is one wonderful proof of his talent. The filmaking is perfect, and the conflicts depicted are always contemporary and interesting. The idea of a evil-minded powerful man who controls a villain network and rules a city is also present in the Mabuse films, but here is linked to the very modern idea of acting and stage.
The restored print is an absolute pleasure!