DESTINY (DVD) DOLBY DIGITAL MONO DVD

Destiny
Fritz Lang was a stickler for realism in his American films; not so his German silents, which were fanciful to the point of being fairy tales. Der Müde Tod, Lang's first big critical success, is an allegorical tale of love, fidelity and death. The heroine (Lil Dagover), who in her dreams is confronted by Mr. Death, argues for the life of her beloved, but is unable to make the personal sacrifices that Death insists upon. Originally presented in three parts, Der Müde Tod was often boiled down to a single film for its non-German showings. Its English-language titles range from The Weary Death to Between Two Worlds to Beyond the Wall to Destiny. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Lil Dagover as Fiametta Lil Dagover as Junge Maedchen Lil Dagover as Tiaotsien Lil Dagover as Zobeide Walter Janssen as Liang Walter Janssen as Franke Walter Janssen as Francesco Walter Janssen as Der junge Mann Bernhard Goetzke as El Mot Bernhard Goetzke as Der Tod Bernhard Goetzke as Bogner Rudolf Klein-Rogge as Girolamo Rudolf Klein-Rogge as Derwisch Paul Biensfeldt as Ahi Eduard von Winterstein as Kalif

Crew Fritz Lang - Director Dr. Giuseppe Becce - Composer (Music Score) Hermann Warm - Production Designer Robert Herlth - Production Designer Walter Röhrig - Production Designer Fritz Arno Wagner - Cinematographer Erich Pommer - Producer Fritz Lang - Screenwriter Thea von Harbou - Screenwriter

Destiny
Fritz Lang may have immersed himself in German culture with his Siegfried and Kriemhilde's Revenge, but he was never more Germanic anywhere than he was with Destiny. Inspired by a childhood dream, this grim yet entertaining story about life-and-death, and the struggle to overcome the latter, never quite escapes its origins, in terms of a somber tone and caste to its plot and characters -- indeed, it is as self-consciously German as Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (with which it has much in common) is self-consciously Swedish. It's easy to understand how other filmmakers, most especially Douglas Fairbanks Sr. as a producer (on The Thief of Bagdad), would have lifted much of Destiny's form and images, but little of its substance. The movie still holds up, but it is a little tougher to absorb than, say, Lang's Nibelungen films, lacking a conventional heroic presence or story-arc for audiences to grab onto. Indeed, in many ways, the work it most closely resembles thematically is Harold S. Buquet's On Borrowed Time (1939), which has a somewhat similar resolution. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
 

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General Specifications: Language Options: Subtitle Options: English Sound Processing: 5.1: 5 full-range channels. Includes 3 for the front speakers, 2 surround channels for rear speakers, & 1 low-frequency effects (LFE) channel to carry deep bass effects 2: PCM stereo Additional Features: MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: Content Length: 99 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 0. Scene Index 1. Main Title [1:37] 2. Winter's Early Breath [9:50] 3. Presentiments of Death [12:44] 4. "Love Is Stronger Than Death" [6:06] 5. The Story of the First Light [14:24] 6. The Story of the Second Light [14:33] 7. The Story of the Third Light [22:44] 8. A Final Chance [1:30] 9. Lust for Life [5:48] 10. Another Life, Not Yet Expired [4:19] 11. "Who Gives His Life Away Shall Gain It" [3:26] 12. End Credits [1:50]