The Film: 4/5

Released in 1921, Destiny (“A German Folk Song in Six Verses”) represented a great leap forward in the career of the celebrated German filmmaker Fritz Lang in terms of both narrative ambition and mastery of the finest cutting edge visual effects the silent era had to offer. It set the stage for Lang to make the film that would forever be viewed as his greatest, the groundbreaking 1927 sci-fi epic Metropolis, and to this day it is regarded as a highly influential work of cinema from the days before sound. Iconic filmmakers such as Luis Bunuel and Alfred Hitchcock felt the impact of Destiny and its stunning images and deeply thematic storytelling and would carry the lessons they learned from Lang’s feature for the rest of their lives as they embarked on their own legendary careers in the film industry.

On a lonely road leading to a small town in the country, a young couple share a carriage ride with a mysterious stranger (Bernhard Goetzke) bearing a gaunt appearance and vague ambitions. When they arrive at the town, the lovers visit a tavern where they meet the stranger again. While the woman (Lil Dagover) is momentarily preoccupied, her other half (Walter Janssen) vanishes into the night. She later discovers that his soul has been claimed by the stranger, who turns out to literally be Death incarnate, because it was his time to die. Death gives the woman three chances to save her lover’s soul if she can save just one of a trio of souls who are up next on his list, a mission that takes her to Iran, Italy during the Quattrocento period, and ancient China, and into the lives of loving couples (also played by Dagover and Janssen) whose destinies hang in the balance.

If you can get past the sight of white German actors playing Persians and Chinese people (after all, it was the early 1920’s), Fritz Lang’s Destiny becomes a fascinating experience that found a future giant of the silver screen continuing to experiment with narrative form and technical advancements as he forged a filmmaking resume that would live on as legend. Co-written with his then-future wife Thea von Harbou (who would later go on to become a prolific screenwriter and director in Nazi Germany while her husband fled to Hollywood to make some of his finest cinematic efforts), Lang took advantage of the film’s time-jumping story to employ optical and in-camera practical effects that were state of the art for the years following the end of World War I. But these effects merely exist to service the narrative, a poetic fable of optimistic young love struggling for survival against the forces of class and religious persecution and the depraved whims of the rich and powerful.

Lang shot Destiny at Germany’s Studio Babelsberg with five cinematographers (including his future M/Testament of Dr. Mabuse D.P. Fritz Arno Wagner, who also performed the same duty for F.W. Murnau on Nosferatu) providing some striking and evocative images of international civilizations past, and the director also served as his own editor. The costumes and sets aren’t the most elaborate, but are convincing enough given the meager amount of funds and studio space the stage bound production had at its disposal. Performances are fine, with Dagover bringing warmth and complexity to her resilient unnamed heroine and Goetzke crafting an unforgettable interpretation of Death as a saddened servant of God who has grown weary of his duties to escort the souls of the dead into the afterlife. The three stories and the wraparound narrative lead to a poignant conclusion that feels right for the tone of Destiny and it’s laudable that Lang and von Harbou refused to cop out with a trite finale that would have ruined the emotional depth of the piece.

Audio/Video: 3.5/5

Destiny recently underwent a massive reconstruction and restoration process, resulting in a vastly improved transfer – correctly framed in the film’s original 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio – that first appeared on last year’s Region A Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber. Since all three of the original camera negatives are considered to be forever lost, a dupe negative on loan from the Museum of Modern Art in New York was used for the restoration, supplemented by select black & white shots taken from a print in the possession of the Cinematheque de Toulouse. Additional materials and work for the reconstruction were donated by sources all over Europe, and the final product was scanned and restored in 2K resolution. Print damage throughout the 98-minute running time is hard to ignore, but given the condition of the film elements this is understandable, and the damage doesn’t come close to detracting from the overall quality of the restoration. The majority of the scenes are tinted in various colors – most prominently red, blue, and green – that reflect Fritz Lang’s original intentions for the first time since Destiny’s original release, and grain content is consistent and balanced.

Destiny has been given a touching and dramatic new music score composed by Cornelius Schwehr and performed by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under composer Frank Strobel that is presented here on a linear English PCM 2.0 audio track. The score is alternately tense, romantic, and sad, and Eureka’s handsome sound mix brings it volume and depth that matches perfectly with Lang’s dreamlike imagery. An optional English subtitle translation of the original German intertitles has also been included.

Extras: 3/5

Film historian and author Tim Lucas contributes an audio commentary as he did for last year’s Kino release, but this track, though similar in content and presentation, is different as it was recorded exclusively for Eureka’s edition. The historical background and critical insight Lucas is known for providing in his essential commentaries are both present here and his insightful dissection of the production and cultural impact of Lang’s influential film, its themes and images, and how it forever altered the course of his career in cinema is something no fan of the medium can afford to miss out on hearing, especially when matched to Lang’s breathtaking achievement.

Also exclusive to this release is the video essay “Death Goes to Work” (15 minutes) by David Cairns, who provides an analytical narration over select scenes from Destiny. In addition, Eureka’s dual format release comes with a Region 2 DVD copy and a collector’s booklet featuring a new essay about

Overall: 3.5/5

Fritz Lang’s Destiny is an excellent example of filmmakers utilizing the limited means of early 20^th century silent cinema to push the envelope in terms of storytelling craft and technical artistry. It’s one of the director’s finest films made while he still lived in his native country, a multi-layered fantasy that should impress fans of otherworldly adventure and romance stories thanks to the terrific restoration work that went into Destiny looking its best in decades on this Blu-ray/DVD set from Eureka as part of their Masters of Cinema series.