HANGMEN ALSO DIE! (1943)

Blocking extravaganza

Victory

Noir

Title: Hangmen Also Die!
Year: 1943
Director: Fritz Lang
Format: Blu-ray
Label: Arrow Academy

Notes:

I didn't think the first Fritz Lang film I'd look at on this blog would be one of his American talkies but I haven't had time to revisit any of his epic Weimar silents for a while and HANGMEN ALSO DIE! just made it to the top of my to-watch pile.

This film was shot in the US during the second world war as a propaganda piece and celebrates the bravery and tenacity of the Czechoslovakian resistance during the brutal Nazi occupation of their country. It was written by 'Bert' Brecht (as he's credited onscreen) and so this was another dubious first for me - my first experience of the work of the illustrious Bertolt.

I'm not sure it's a particularly great film although there a few good set pieces and as a thriller it engages throughout. There is a pervasive noir mood which one would expect given the times but there are also a few melodramatic moments that weaken the dramatic appeal a little. It's good to see that it doesn't shy away from the reality of executions and Gestapo terror but the Nazi villains are perhaps a bit too caricatured even for propaganda - decadent and spotty! The very American accents deployed by most of the leads are a bit odd at first but I found I adjusted after the first reel or so.