"Das wandernde Bild" or "The Moving Image" is a German black-and-white silent movie from 1920, so it is not that long anymore until this one will have its 100th anniversary. The star here is clearly writer and director Fritz Lang, but the cast includes a couple pretty famous names from the old days too, such as Mia May or Rudolf Klein-Rogge of course. Unfortunately, the film has not survived in its entirety, but the version that still exists runs for 66 minutes and luckily they managed to include text notes about the scenes we cannot watch anymore. I think in this case it works in the film's favor that it is such a relatively short movie, because it stays pretty essential. It did not drag and it never felt as if the film was too long for its own good. The scenes made sense in putting together a convincing product. The film has some good writing about family, crime and drama and also has really nice photography for such an old movie. It is also an interesting example of how actors back then played effortlessly several characters in the same film. This one is better than most of Lang's more known works in my opinion. I recommend the watch.
Review of The Wandering Image
