A metaphor for "soul possession".
The will of Dr. Mabus left people to build a "criminal kingdom". This requirement comes from an evil ideal. Although it is evil, the ideal will inevitably drive many people to give everything and become mad. The criminal madman Dr. Mabus was imprisoned in a mental hospital for ten years. The process of imprisonment was the process of creating his own religion. His most important follower was the professor of the mental hospital, Dr. Baum. When a kind of madness, the harm it will bring will far exceed the superstition of the ignorant people. The day Dr. Mabus died, the psychiatrist began to strictly enforce his will: to create a "kingdom of crime." During his ten years of caring for Dr. Mabus, Dr. Baum became a complete believer of Dr. Mabus, which is why he took the trouble to use Dr. Mabus' story as an example to discuss with his students in class. Lange adopted a "soul-possessed" design in the film. After Dr. Mabus's death, Baum began to organize his "maintaining a posture, sitting on the bed and writing essays for ten years". At this moment, he actually I found that the strange symbols that I couldn't understand at all can now be understood by myself. This understanding is also a gradual process. When Baum taught the students, he once talked about Dr. Mabus ten These essays written over the years were completely incomprehensible from the beginning, until words and sentences appeared, and finally these manuscripts were completely understood by Baum and turned into plan books with detailed descriptions. Command, this process is actually Baum's own mental journey, the process of Dr. Mabus' ideal gradually occupying a central position in his heart. We don't care what the tomorrow that this ideal left by Dr. Mabus may bring to the world, but before Dr. Mabus was alive, he had spread this ideal deeply and widely in people's hearts. A de facto "soul possession", the executors have since put this ideal into practice with a religious fervor.
It should be said that this religious ecstasy is a reflection of the real mental state of the entire Germans at that time. The reason for this state is not enough for me to analyze. However, what we can see is: what kind of ideal Shockingly dangerous force.
last hope for humanity
In the film, the description of Germans ' mental state is the most important part, but what cannot be ignored is the director's hope and trust in human nature. Kent and his lover in the film are the bearers of this hope. The hesitant Kent was sentenced to Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse precisely because of his yearning for a good love.
Down with false gods
This is a spiritual crisis brought about by science. The value of religion seems to have completely declined in the West in an instant. Since then, the objects of worship have completely become false gods, including figures like Hitler, and all kinds of strange things that appeared after the rise of technology. The product.
In "Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse", Kent and Lily broke through the curtain that covered the boss and bravely fired two shots at the "boss" behind the curtain. He found that the object he had been serving was A pile of junk: magnets, megaphones. Kent has been so blinded by the sound of science that when the real boss shows up in front of him, he's completely unrecognizable. Man is so easily deceived and controlled by science! Fritz Lange shatters it all with his footage.
"Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse" was first released in Budapest, the capital of Hungary. As a German film directed by a German director, it was banned in Germany until 1951 after the end of World War II. in front of the Germans. And Fritz Lange, because of this film, will certainly not be able to live in the country. He, Murnau, Lubitsch and others are all famous German directors in exile.
