- director:
- Fritz Lang
- cast:
- Lil Dagover, Bernhard Goetzke, Walter Janssen
Destiny is widely considered Lang’s first masterpiece, bringing together his gifts for stunning visual design and intricate, irony-laced narratives, as well as his self-proclaimed central theme of the individual’s fight against fate. After taking away her fiancé, Death offers a young woman a chance to reclaim his life by preventing a destined demise in three exotic situations: a Caliph’s sister in love with an infidel; conspiring lovers at a Venetian carnival; and a Chinese magician who must amuse the Emperor or else... This impressive early work, newly restored, contains some of Fritz Lang’s most memorable images: the massive gateless wall around Death’s domain, the beer mug that turns into an hourglass, and the vast hall filled with candles representing the flickering span of each human life.
“When I saw Destiny, I suddenly knew that I wanted to make movies...the film spoke to something deep inside me; it clarified my life and my vision of the world.” — Luis Buñuel