A Companion to Fritz Lang

Fritz Lang′s influence on cinema cannot be overstated, with a career that stretched from the silent era in Germany to the decline of the Hollywood studio system in the late 1950s, from the Weimar Republic to Nazi Germany, from Depression America to the McCarthy era. One of the best known émigrés from Germany′s school of Expressionism, Lang is also credited with influencing the emergence of film noir. With a newly discovered edit of Fritz Lang’s masterwork Metropolis still playing to movie fans around the world, this new edition offers the first full–scale collection of scholarship available in English on one of the most important filmmakers of all time. Addressing much of Lang’s voluminous body of work, from Metropolis and M , to lesser–known titles such as Western Union and Clash by Night , this volume offers a superb overview of Lang’s cinema and revealing insights into his enduring influence on directors such as Godard, Scorsese, Chabrol, and Tarantino. Published just as scholars are taking a second look at this controversial auteur, the volume’s two dozen essays offer an unrivalled and up–to–the–minute assessment of Lang’s prolific and resilient life and vision.

Joe McElhaney is Professor in the Department of Film and Media Studies at Hunter College, City University of New York, USA, as well as in the Theater Program at CUNY’s Graduate Center. A seasoned commentator on film, media and the arts, Prof McElhaney’s authored volumes include The Death of Classical Cinema: Hitchcock, Lang, Minnelli (2006), Vincente Minnelli: The Art of Entertainment (2009), and Albert Maysles (2009).

Review request 5/6/2013 – Katinka Klaas –  MEDIEN wissenschaft US reviews: Cineaste Film Comment Canadian Journal of Film Studies Cineaction Film Quarterly Quarterly Review of Film and Video Literature/Film Quarterly Velvet Light Trap Bright Lights Film Journal Cinemascope UK reviews: Sight and Sound Screening the Past Senses of Cinema Quarterly Review of Film Studies Screen Positif Cahiers du Cinèma Framework Filmkrant Film International