Fritz Lang: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers)
Lang is best known for the silent German films, especiallyMetropolis, that he directed between the world wars, and the genre movies, including such noir classics asThe Big Heat, that he made after emigrating to America. All but one interview in this book come from Lang's last two decades, when, no longer an active filmmaker, he was a cinematic legend worshiped by the French New Wave directors (Godard had him play himself inContempt). His reputation for manipulating his image is apparent in the anecdotes he repeatedly trots out, such as his claim to have fled Germany the very day that Goebbels asked him to be the filmmaker for the Third Reich (a story debunked in later biographies). Much of Lang's spiel is factually unreliable, yet all remains fascinating. A notoriously difficult interview subject, Lang cannily exploited his Teutonic image by bullying the young film critics who idolized him. These conversations often fascinate by showing the temperamental filmmaker avoiding cinematic theorizing, making absurd pronouncements, and flirting shamelessly with female interviewers.Gordon FlaggCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.