Eureka Entertainment, out now

Fritz Lang’s silent 1921 anthology tale gets the masterpiece treatment in Eureka’s Blu-ray release of this lesser-known work by the Metropolis director.

The story follows a young woman (Lil Dagover – The Cabinet of Dr Caligari) who confronts Death (Bernhardt Goetzke), begging him to bring her to her lover (Walter Jansen), who has just shuffled off this mortal coil. He leads her to a dark room, each candle within at a different stage of burning. Each flame represents a human life, and if she can save one of these lives with love, Death will return her lover. And so we have three tales in an Islamic city, a Venetian carnival and the Chinese empire, where the same actors play the lovers and protagonist.

Unless you’re a fan of German expressionist cinema it’s very likely that you’ll never have heard of Der Müde Tod, made six years before Metropolis would cement his reputation. It’s also unlikely that you’ll pick this up as an impulse purchase, so let’s look at what you get.

You can’t fault the high definition presentation from the 2K restoration – I’ve seen content from the 1980s that looks far ropier – and you can read the original German intertitles alongside optional English subtitles. Although a silent movie, there’s a score by Cornelius Schwehr, performed by the Berlin Radio Symphony, or you can listen to the audio commentary by film critic Tim Lucas. There’s also a 15-minute video essay by David Cairns with some fascinating insight into the director’s private life and a 44-page booklet featuring a new essay by Philip Kemp.

Verdict: Let’s be grateful that a film that’s nearing its centenary has been restored and preserved with such love and care and presented with academic attention. It might be minor-league Lang, but it was his breakthrough and a stepping stone to his classics. 7/10

Nick Joy